Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, March 28, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Third ConditionalThird conditionals are used to establish a hypothetical situation in the past, followed by a hypothetical outcome that did not really happen. Typically, what is the outcome? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Fatal Familial InsomniaFatal familial insomnia is a rare genetic disease that interferes with sleep and eventually leads to death. The disease is the result of mutations in a certain protein, which cause plaques to build up in the thalamus, the brain region responsible for sleep regulation. Patients initially suffer from insomnia and progressively develop more serious problems—including hallucinations, rapid weight loss, and dementia—before dying. In how many families has the gene that causes the disease been found? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak (1920)In 1920, meteorologists did not have modern forecasting equipment, and there was no storm warning system in place in the US. Thus, when an outbreak of storms began near dawn on March 28, 1920, few were prepared for the devastation that followed. Some 400 people were killed and more than 1,200 injured that day by at least 38 recorded tornadoes in the deep South and the Midwest. Why is it likely that both the total number of tornadoes as well as the actual death toll were underreported? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Freddie Bartholomew (1924)Abandoned by his parents as a baby and raised by a British aunt whose last name he took, Bartholomew was a successful child actor in Hollywood during the 1930s. He appeared in such films as Little Lord Fauntleroy, Captains Courageous, and David Copperfield, which propelled him to fame at the age of 10. After he became successful, his biological parents launched a protracted and expensive court battle to regain custody of the child star that lasted for how long? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman—a rope over an abyss ... What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal.Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be more trouble than it's worth— To not be important, useful, or beneficial enough to justify the effort or difficulty that something requires. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Mi-Carême (2019)This break from the strictness of Lent has traditionally been observed in France, Belgium, and various islands of the French West Indies. In Paris, it is customarily celebrated with the Fête des Blanchisseuses, or laundresses, who choose a queen from each of the various metropolitan districts. The district queens and the queen of queens chosen by them ride through the streets on a float, followed by their costumed courtiers and ladies-in-waiting. Then there is a colorful ball for the washerwomen that night. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: thighham, hamstring - Originally, the part of the leg behind the knee was called the ham, and then the tendon near the ham was the hamstring; by extension, the ham became the thigh and buttock together. More... haunch - The buttock and thigh together. More... hockshin, gambrel - The underside of the thigh is the hockshin or gambrel. More... thigh - Etymologically, the "plump" part of the leg, from an Indo-European base meaning "swell" or "fat." More... | |