Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, April 1, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Infinitives as Non-Finite VerbsAn infinitive is the most basic form of a verb. It is "unmarked" (which means that it is not conjugated for tense or person), and it is preceded by the particle "to." Infinitives are also known as non-finite verbs. What does that mean? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 US Route 666Renamed US Route 491 in 2003, US Route 666 was originally nicknamed "Devil's Highway" because of the common Christian belief that 666 is the number of the beast. First commissioned in 1926, the route, which runs from New Mexico to Utah, was given its infamous name because it was the sixth spur along the highway's parent US Route 66. Officials changed the name because its signs were among those most frequently stolen. What happened within days of the announcement that US 666 would be renumbered? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 BBC Report: Spaghetti Grows on Trees (1957)An estimated 8 million unsuspecting viewers were watching the BBC's trusted current affairs program Panorama when it aired one of the first televised hoaxes in history, a 3-minute report on the Swiss spaghetti harvest. Afterwards, the station received calls from hundreds of curious viewers, including some who wanted information on cultivating their own spaghetti plants. In the report, the year's abundant spaghetti crop was attributed to a mild winter and the near-elimination of what pest? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Lon Chaney (1883)Chaney was an American silent-film actor. Born to parents who were both deaf and mute, he learned to express himself through pantomime at an early age. He moved to Hollywood in 1912 and became one of the biggest stars of the time, appearing in more than 150 silent films. Known as "the man of a thousand faces," he masterfully used makeup to play tortured, grotesque characters in horror films such as The Phantom of the Opera. How did fake snow made of corn flakes contribute to his death? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Envy is ignorance.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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mouth-breathing— (used before a noun) Dimwitted, foolish, or stupid; of low or stunted intelligence. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 April Fools' Day (2025)There are many names for this day, just as there are many practical jokes to play on the unsuspecting. The simplest pranks usually involve children who, for example, tell each other that their shoelaces are undone and then cry "April Fool!" when the victims glance at their feet. Sometimes the media broadcast fictitious news items. British television, for example, once showed Italian farmers "harvesting" spaghetti from trees. The French call it Fooling the April Fish Day (the fool being the poisson d'avril) and try to pin a paper fish on someone's back without getting caught. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: scrapmammock - A scrap, shred, or piece that is torn or broken off. More... riffraff - Rif/riff, "spoil, strip," and raf, "carry off," combined as rif et raf in French, then went to English as riff and raff, "everything, every scrap," and then riffraff. More... scrip - Can be a scrap of paper with writing on it. More... tatter - A scrap of cloth, from Old Norse totrar, "rags"; often used as tatters. More... | |