Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, August 1, 2019)Word of the Day | |||||||
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delegacy
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adverbial ObjectivesAdverbial nouns are nouns or noun phrases that function grammatically as adverbs to modify verbs and certain adjectives. They are sometimes referred to as "adverbial objectives" because they hold a position normally occupied by a verb's direct object, yet they act as an adverb to modify the verb with an aspect of time, distance, weight, age, or monetary value. What is the adverbial objective in the following sentence? "This wine is aged 25 years." More... |
Article of the Day | |
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![]() FugueA fugue is a musical composition characterized by the systematic imitation of one or more themes in counterpoint. In the exposition, which begins the piece, the theme is repeated successively in similar form at different pitch levels by different voices. The fugue emerged gradually from the imitative polyphony of the 13th century and reached its pinnacle with Bach, who, along with Handel, inspired the later fugues of Mozart, Beethoven, and others. What is a counterfugue? More... |
This Day in History | |
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![]() The Swiss Confederation Is Formed (1291)Despite its ethnic and religious diversity, Switzerland has maintained one of the world's oldest democracies for more than 700 years. Concerned about the encroaching Habsburg Empire, the three mountain communes of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden formed a defensive league in 1291, laying the foundations of the Swiss Confederation. Today, Switzerland is well known for its neutrality and reluctance to join the European Union. In 2002, it became one of the last nations to do what? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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![]() Maria Mitchell (1818)The daughter of an amateur astronomer, Mitchell spent her formative years learning to observe the heavens. When she was 29, she discovered a comet. For her achievement, she was awarded a gold medal by the king of Denmark. Her reputation as an astronomer thus secured, she soon became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and, thereafter, to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. To which of America's Founding Fathers was Mitchell distantly related? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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![]() Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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poetry in motion— Something that is very elegant, graceful, and/or beautiful to observe, especially dance or the performing arts. More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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![]() Swiss National Day (2025)This nationwide celebration of the Swiss Confederation is observed with torchlight processions, fireworks, shooting contests, and folkloric events. The day commemorates the occasion in 1291 when representatives of the three original cantons of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden met on the Rutli meadow and swore an oath of alliance and mutual defense to lay the foundations of the Confederation. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: socialcommunity - It can refer to group of animals or plants living together and was first used to refer to a "body of commons" or a social or political entity. More... party - Latin partitum, "part, side," became party, with the senses "political group" and, in the 18th century, "social gathering." More... mores, anomie - Mores is the Latin plural of mor/mos and means "acquired customs and manners"; social and moral conventions are mores, and the lack of these is anomie. More... sociable, social, society - Sociable, social, society, etc. originate in Latin socius, "companion, fellow," or "colleague." More... |