Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, February 26, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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ribbing
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Conjunctive AdverbsConjunctive adverbs are a specific type of conjunction. Conjunctions are used to join together words, phrases, or clauses. Conjunctive adverbs are specifically used to connect two independent clauses. What is an independent clause? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Blood BrothersMany cultures around the world have long held that unrelated people can be bound to each other as kin through a ceremony in which their blood is mingled. The Scythians mixed participants' blood with wine and drank it from a shared cup, while the Lydians licked the blood from each other's nicked forearms. Blood brother ceremonies persist even today, though they have fallen out of favor due to the risk of disease. In Greece, what tradition establishes blood brotherhood without any actual blood? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Grand Teton National Park Established (1929)Before US President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill creating Grand Teton National Park, the National Park Service and homesteaders around Jackson Hole, Wyoming, fought for decades about the best way to preserve the landscape there. Much of the steep Teton Range lies within the boundaries of the park. Its peaks rise above deep valleys, called "holes" by the first white trappers and traders in the area. It has been suggested that early French trappers named the Teton Range after what body part? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Christopher Marlowe (1564)A shoemaker's son, Marlowe attended Cambridge University and then became an actor and dramatist in London. His plays, such as Dr. Faustus and The Jew of Malta, often center on a heroic personality ruined by his own ambition. Most critics hold that the poetic beauty of his language elevates his plays' violence to high art, and many believe that he influenced Shakespeare's work. At 29, he was stabbed to death in a tavern brawl, possibly due to his involvement in what covert activity? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I do know my own mind…The trouble is, my mind changes and then I have to get acquainted with it all over again.Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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make (someone's) jaw drop— To cause someone to pause in astonishment, awe, or disbelief, especially with their mouth left open. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ayyam-i-Ha (2025)Also known as Days of Ha, the Ayyam-i-Ha are intercalary days (extra days inserted in a calendar) in the Baha'i calendar. The calendar is made up of 19 months of 19 days, plus the period of four days added between the 18th and 19th months, which allows for the year to be adjusted to the solar cycle. The days are set aside for rejoicing, hospitality, gift-giving, special acts of charity, and spiritually preparing for the Baha'i fast from March 2–20. The new calendar was inaugurated by Mirza Ali Mohammad, known as the Bab, founder of the Babi religion from which the Baha'i faith emerged. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sedimentdecant - Means to pour wine, taking pains not to disturb any sediment at the bottom; decant comes from Latin de- and canthus, "angular lip of a jug." More... allogenic, allochthonous - Geological material that has been transported and then accumulates elsewhere is allochthonous, and sediment carried by a river is allogenic. More... lithification - The process of compaction of sediment into stone. More... | |