Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, February 28, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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prosaic
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Prepositions with NounsCertain prepositions can be used in conjunction with nouns to connect, emphasize, or provide clarification for ideas expressed in sentences. In this combination, the preposition always comes directly after the noun. What are some of the most common prepositions used with nouns? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Anesthesia AwarenessIn a rare subset of patients undergoing general anesthesia, the anesthetic is inadequate to keep the patient unconscious during an operation. This is a condition known as anesthesia awareness. The patient may feel the pain of surgery and hear the conversations of surgical staff but is often unable to communicate because a muscle relaxant or paralytic has also been administered. Having which hair color may indicate that someone will require a higher dose of anesthesia? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 DuPont Scientist Wallace Carothers Invents Nylon (1935)Though his struggles with mental illness made him initially reject a lucrative job with DuPont, chemist Wallace Carothers accepted the offer in the late 1920s and enjoyed much success there. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the invention of nylon, which rapidly gained widespread use in an array of products. First used to make toothbrush bristles, nylon was soon replacing silk in the parachutes and flak vests of American WWII combatants and in women's stockings. How did nylon get its name? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Linus Carl Pauling (1901)An American chemist, Pauling was the first person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes: one for chemistry in 1954 and one for peace in 1962. He was one of the first to study molecular structure using quantum mechanics, and he made discoveries in biochemistry and medicine. In the 1950s, he became concerned about nuclear weapons testing and radioactive fallout and wrote an appeal—signed by thousands of scientists—to halt such tests. What publication called his peace prize "A Weird Insult from Norway"? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The idol of today pushes the hero of yesterday out of our recollection; and will, in turn, be supplanted by his successor of tomorrow.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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miss the cut— In golf, to fail to match or better the score necessary to remain in the final two rounds of a four-round tournament, thus resulting in elimination. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kalevala Day (2025)The Kalevala is Finland's national epic poem, researched and transcribed by Dr. Elias Lönnrot. Lönnrot and his assistants traveled throughout the country, asking people to tell them whatever they could remember about the folklore surrounding Kalevala, the "Land of Heroes." On February 28, 1835, after years of research, Lönnrot signed the preface to the first edition of the poem. This event marked a turning point in Finnish literature; up to this point, little had been written in the Finnish language. Lönnrot is honored with parades and concerts on this day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: witchtroll - Originally a witch or sorceress. More... fly-by-night - Said to be an old term of reproach to a woman signifying that she was a witch, and was extended to "anyone who departs hastily from a recent activity," especially while owing money. More... hag - First meant "witch." More... witch - In Old English, it was actually wicca and originally (c. 890) was a man who practiced magic or sorcery, who we now call a wizard; by the year 1000, witch came to be defined as "a female magician or sorceress." More... | |