Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, June 2, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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give-and-take
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using En Dashes to Indicate a Range of ValuesThe most common use of the en dash is to connect two numbers, dates, or times to indicate a range that spans these figures. When it is used in this way, we can think of the en dash as representing what words? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Morgan le FayMorgan le Fay was an enchantress in Arthurian legend whose name first appeared in literature around 1150. A skilled healer and shape-shifter, she ruled Avalon, the island where King Arthur went to be healed after being mortally wounded in battle. Her magic was learned from books and the magician Merlin. In some accounts, she is Arthur's sister and enemy and seduces him to produce a son—Mordred—who later kills Arthur. The character of Morgan may have been inspired by what earlier Welsh goddess? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US President Grover Cleveland Gets Married in the White House (1886)Though President Cleveland entered the White House a notorious bachelor—having allegedly fathered a child out of wedlock—he did not remain single for long. Having become the executor of his deceased law partner's estate a decade earlier, Cleveland had supervised the upbringing of his partner's daughter, Frances. She visited him in the White House in 1885, and the two were married in the Blue Room a year later, making him the only president to be married there. He was how many years her senior? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Johnny Weissmuller (1904)Weissmuller was a five-time Olympic gold medalist with 67 world records in swimming when, in 1932, he turned in his swimsuit for a loincloth and became Tarzan, the Ape Man. He starred in 12 Tarzan films and created the memorable "Tarzan yell" before being replaced by a younger actor in 1948. He then went on to star in a series of Jungle Jim movies adapted from comic books. Afterward, he ran his own swimming pool company. His face appears in the collage on the cover of what iconic record album? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Teach him to think for himself? Oh, my God, teach him rather to think like other people!Mary Shelley (1797-1851) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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mixed signal— A signal, message, or communication that has, or is interpreted as having, multiple, ambiguous, or contradictory meanings. (Often plural.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Israel Festival (Jerusalem) (2020)This three-week festival, founded in 1961, is primarily dedicated to Israeli arts and culture, although guest conductors and performers from other countries are featured as well. There are symphony and choral concerts, opera, ballet and modern dance, theater, jazz, folklore, films, and art exhibitions at several locations in Jerusalem. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has performed with guest conductors like Zubin Mehta and Leonard Bernstein, and Israeli dance groups offer both traditional and modern programs. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: mineralsdouse, dowse - Douse first meant "knock, punch, strike" and now means "to extinguish or wet thoroughly"; dowse means to look for water or minerals with a divining rod. More... hard water - That which contains large amounts of minerals. More... mica - Any of a group of minerals that occur in small glittering plates or scales in other rocks. More... micronutrient - One of the vitamins and minerals needed only in small amounts for normal body function. More... | |