Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, August 12, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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unabashed
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Punctuating Direct SpeechDirect speech refers to the direct quotation of something that someone else said. When we use direct speech in writing, how do we indicate it? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 YakuzaYakuza are members of traditional organized crime groups in Japan. Although yakuza membership declined in the 1990s following an anti-gang law passed by the Japanese government, there are thought to be nearly 90,000 active yakuza members in Japan today. Though, as a matter of principle, yakuza do not recognize direct theft as a legitimate enterprise, they frequently engage in a form of extortion known as sokaiya. How does it work? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Isaac Singer Granted Patent for Sewing Machine (1851)Before the advent of the sewing machine, sewing was a laborious task. Singer's 1851 sewing machine patent made him a very rich man. Several other people laid claim to having invented the sewing machine, notably Elias Howe, who won a lawsuit against Singer for infringement. Nevertheless, Singer's company was already well established and was able to pool its patents with other claimants to avoid litigation. At times, Singer used alternate names to accomplish what scandalous feat? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ross and Norris McWhirter (1925)In 1954, a few years after identical twins Norris and Ross McWhirter founded a London fact-finding agency, they met a director of the Guinness brewing company, Sir Hugh Beaver, who commissioned a compilation of world records that was intended to settle bar-room disputes. The first edition of the McWhirters' Guinness Book of Records was given to bars for free as a marketing gimmick, but the book quickly became a phenomenal success. In 1975, Ross was assassinated. Why? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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quake like a leaf— To tremble violently with fear or nervousness. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Queen's Birthday (Thailand) (2025)The Queen's Birthday is a nationwide celebration in Thailand of the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit (b. 1932). Throughout the country, buildings are decorated to honor the queen, but the most splendid are in Bangkok, where buildings and streets are brilliant with colored lights. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: turkeypoult - A young domestic fowl (like a turkey) being raised for food. More... meleagrine - The adjective form of turkey. More... wattle - The fleshy part hanging from the neck of a turkey or other bird. More... turkey - Originally the name for African guinea fowl, it eventually became the name for the Western hemisphere fowl with which the earlier fowl was confused; it is short for turkeycock or turkeyhen. More... | |