Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, June 27, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Prepositional Phrases as AdverbsWhen a prepositional phrase modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb, it is considered to have the function of an adverb within the sentence. What are these phrases called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 TapirsFound in the jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia, tapirs are large, nocturnal, herbivorous mammals with short, prehensile snouts. Though tapirs are somewhat piglike in appearance, they are not related to pigs. Their closest relatives are, in fact, odd-toed ungulates like horses and rhinoceroses. Tapirs that have access to a water source are known to spend a good deal of time swimming and even submerge underwater to feed and to allow fish to do what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 World's First ATM Installed in Enfield, London (1967)ATMs, or automated teller machines, can be used by bank customers to process several different kinds of account transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, and fund transfers, and to review account statements and balances. Most consider the world's first ATM to be the one invented by John Shepherd-Barron and installed by Barclays Bank in North London on June 27, 1967. However, a mechanical bank deposit box, arguably an ATM, was installed in New York how many years earlier? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Lafcadio Hearn (1850)Born in Greece and educated in Ireland, Hearn immigrated to the US at age 19 and lived in poverty for a time until he found employment as a journalist. He was a colorful but morbidly discontented man, admired for his highly polished tales of the macabre. In 1890, a magazine sent him to Japan, where he married a Japanese woman, took a Japanese name, and became a citizen. His subsequent books offered the West its first thoughtful view of Japanese culture. What partial disability did he have? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be caught off (one's) guard— To be taken by surprise; to be caught when one is vulnerable, careless, or inattentive. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tajikistan Day of National Unity (2025)On June 27, 1997, a treaty was signed between Islamic rebels and the Russian-backed Tajikistan government, bringing to an end a five-year-long civil war. The day is remembered as the Day of National Unity. On the Day of National Unity in 2007, the Tajik parliament passed a law granting amnesty to all rebels who had fought against the government, provided they had not committed murder, rape, human or drug trafficking, or terrorism. Some 2,000 prison inmates were released under the new law. The 2007 commemoration also marked the opening of 11 new buildings in the city of Dushanbe. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: withdrawanchorite - Its meaning of "hermit" derived from Greek ana-, "back," and chorein, "to withdraw." More... cease, cede - Cease and cede come from Latin cedere, "go away, withdraw." More... retire - From French retirer, from re-, "back" and tirer, "throw," its first sense was "withdraw to a place of safety or seclusion." More... take for the kitchen - To withdraw from a conversation or to remain silent. More... | |