Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, August 1, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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lampoon
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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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 Elizabeth of BohemiaThe daughter of James I of England, Elizabeth was married to elector palatine Frederick V in 1613 to cement an alliance between English and German Protestantism. She became queen of Bohemia when her husband accepted the crown in 1619, but after his defeat by the Catholic League the next year, they went into exile. Her descendents founded the House of Hanover, which ruled England for nearly 200 years. What failed plot would have put nine-year-old Elizabeth on the English throne had it succeeded? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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.svg.png) 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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 A man in debt is so far a slave.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| 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... | |