Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, April 30, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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sleight
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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How to Conjugate "Be"The verb "be" is unique among verbs for having a huge variety of conjugations. Not only does it have irregular inflections for the past simple tense and past participle, but it also has specific forms depending on what two things? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Internet VigilantismIn 2008, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck China's Sichuan province, a Chinese girl posted a video of herself on the Internet complaining about the attention being paid to the victims. Incensed by her comments, some Internet users in turn posted personal information about the girl online. It is one of the more well-known cases of Internet vigilantism, in which Internet users try to punish certain behaviors or even catch criminals. What are some other notable cases? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Casey Jones Dies on the Cannonball Express (1900)Jones was an American locomotive engineer whose main claim to fame, until his fateful run on the Cannonball Express, was his punctuality. On April 30, 1900, he was driving the Cannonball Express south on a dangerous, accident-prone run when he suddenly saw a stalled freight train ahead. Instead of jumping to safety, he stayed to slow his train, saving his coworkers and passengers but losing his own life in the process. Who wrote the ballad that immortalized him as a folk hero? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mary II of England (1662)Despite the conversion of her father, King James II, to Roman Catholicism, Mary was raised Protestant, a fact that would become important in her later life. In 1688, English nobles opposed to James's pro-Catholic policies overthrew him and selected Mary and her husband, William of Orange, to rule in his place. Mary enjoyed great popularity as co-ruler of England, but her personal life was full of hardship. What were some of the major sources of unhappiness in her life? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Ah! how delicious it is to turn over and go to sleep again: "just for five minutes." Is there any human being, I wonder, besides the hero of a Sunday-school "tale for boys," who ever gets up willingly?Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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no one in his/her/their right mind would (do something)— No one who is sane would consider doing something; someone would have to be crazy to do something. (In this case, "their" is used as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Minehead Hobby Horse Parade (2025)In England and Wales, hobby horses have been a part of celebrations welcoming spring as far back as anyone can remember. In the waterfront town of Minehead, Somerset, the "sailors' horse" has a boat-shaped frame 7-10 feet long, which is carried on the shoulders of a man whose body is concealed by a canvas curtain that hangs to the ground. His head is covered by a painted tin mask and a tall dunce cap, and hundreds of rainbow-colored ribbons stream from the top of the horse. The horse sets out on May Day Eve, ending up at Whitecross (a crossroads to the west of town) on May Day morning. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: poetryfound poem - A passage within prose that unintentionally reads like poetry. More... stich - A line of poetry. More... free verse - Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter. More... metrophobia - The fear of poetry. More... | |