Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 21, 2025)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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bequeath
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Understanding Non-Restrictive Relative ClausesNon-restrictive relative clauses give us additional information about a noun that has already been identified, but this information is not essential for the sentence to make sense. Only two of the relative adverbs, "where" and "when," can be used to introduce non-restrictive relative clauses; "why" cannot. What is the non-restrictive relative clause in the following sentence? "Paris, where I want to live, is the most beautiful city in the world." More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Marking CardsOften used for card tricks or to cheat when gambling, card marking is the process of altering playing cards so that the suit, rank, or both are surreptitiously revealed to the card marker or a conspirator. The practice has evolved over the years from adding bends or bumps to cards to using various inks and scratches, and today's card markers use sophisticated "shade" technology to add marks that can only be read with special sunglasses, contact lenses, or what other high-tech system? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 World's Tallest Roller Coaster Opens in New Jersey (2005)Reaching a height of 456 feet (139 m) and with a top speed of 128 mph (206 km/h), the Kingda Ka roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in Jackson, New Jersey, became the tallest and the fastest roller coaster in the world when it opened in 2005. It took both titles from Cedar Point park's Top Thrill Dragster, which was designed by the same company and is nearly identical. Kingda Ka lost its title as the world's fastest roller coaster in 2010 to what attraction? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Henri Rousseau (1844)Rousseau was an entirely self-taught French painter. He held a minor post as a tax collector in Paris for more than 20 years before retiring to paint at the age of 49. His work remained consistently naive and imaginative and was often ridiculed. It was only after his death that Rousseau gained recognition as an artistic genius. Though he never left France or saw a jungle, he is best known for his paintings of lush, tropical scenes and wild animals. What was his inspiration for the exotic scenes? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Judge the goodness of a book by the energy of the punches it has given you. I believe the greatest characteristic of genius, is, above all, force.Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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media darling— A very famous and popular person who receives exceptionally positive media coverage or attention. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Anastenaria (2025)Anastenaria is a firewalking ceremony in Greece, in the communes of Agia Eleni near Serres and of Langada near Thessalonike. Men and women, some holding red kerchiefs and some carrying icons of St. Constantine and St. Helen—in whose honor the ceremonies are held—dance barefooted on red-hot coals while folk musicians play. The custom is supposed to have originated in an ancient form of worship that was brought by travelers from Kosti in Eastern Thrace and adapted to Christian beliefs. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slaveamanuensis - Literally "slave at hand"—for a literary assistant, especially one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts. More... ciao - Also ciau; from Italian, it is an alteration of schiavo, "(I am your) slave." More... serve - From Latin servire, "serve," from servus, "slave." More... addict - To addict originally meant "to award as a slave"; an addict now is a slave to his/her habit, from Latin addictus, which, in Roman law, meant "a debtor awarded as a slave to his creditor." More... | |