Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 22, 2021)Word of the Day | |||||||
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eldritch
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using "If Only" Instead of "Wish"To express a desire that is more fanciful, unrealistic, or that we consider to be ideal, we can use "if only" instead of "I wish" to add more emphasis to the desire. In this construction, what happens to the subjunctive verb? More... |
Article of the Day | |
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![]() The Tsavo Man-EatersLions do not usually hunt humans. For nine months in 1898, however, two lions terrorized construction crews who were building a bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya, repeatedly stalking, attacking, and eating the workers. Some victims were dragged from their tents at night. The workers fled and construction was halted until Lt. Col. John H. Patterson—who was in charge of the bridge project—tracked down the lions and shot them. By Patterson's account, how many people had the lions killed? More... |
This Day in History | |
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![]() The Securitas Depot Robbery (2006)In an elaborate heist that took place over the course of several hours, the manager of the Securitas bank depot in Kent, England, was abducted along with his family and forced by a gang of masked, armed men to help steal approximately £53 million. In the process, 14 other staff members at the depot were held captive. It was the largest robbery in British history, and dozens of people would eventually be arrested in connection with it. What had previously been the UK's largest cash robbery? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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![]() Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857)Powell was a British army officer and founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, later the Girl Scouts. He was a hero of the South African War and author of Aids to Scouting, a military textbook. Upon learning that his book was being used to train boys in woodcraft, he wrote Scouting for Boys and established the Boy Scout movement in 1908. In 1910, with his sister and wife, he founded the Girl Guides. What disguise did Powell use while gathering information in war? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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![]() Mark Twain (1835-1910) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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make matters worse— To make an already bad, unpleasant, or difficult situation even more so. (Sometimes used as an independent clause in the infinitive form: "to make matters worse.") More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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![]() St. Lucia Independence Day (2025)The West Indies island of St. Lucia celebrates its national independence holiday on February 22. On that day in 1979, the country gained full independence from Britain. St. Lucia had been a British Colony since 1814. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pondlake - First meant pool or pond. More... nursery - Can be a pond in which fry are reared. More... tank - May have come from Gujarati tanku, or Marathi tanke, "underground cistern," from Sanskrit tadaga, "pond." More... pond - To pond is to accumulate water in a pond, which is really a small lake. More... |