Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, August 3, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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exacerbate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Multiple Prepositional PhrasesSentences can (and often do) have more than one prepositional phrase. How can you tell what kind of prepositional phrase each one is? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Electric EelsElectric eels are the sluggish inhabitants of slow freshwater basins in South America. Cylindrical, scaleless, and gray-brown, they can grow to nine feet (2.75 m) long and weigh up to 49 pounds (22 kg). The electric eel, however, is not a true eel, but is rather a knifefish that can produce a shock—powerful enough to stun a human—while hunting or in self-defense. The shock is produced by the electric organs in its body that generate charge in a manner similar to what common household item? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The National Basketball Association Is Founded (1949)Prior to 1949, there were two main rival basketball organizations in the US—the National Basketball League, which had been founded in 1937, and the Basketball Association of America, which had been founded nearly a decade later. They merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949 and racially integrated the following year. In 1995, the NBA expanded to include two Canadian teams, and in 1996, a women's league was founded. What rule, instituted in 1954, encouraged more shooting? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Elisha Graves Otis (1811)By 1852, Otis had already devised several inventions, including a safety brake for trains. While setting up a factory that year, he developed an automatic safety device to prevent heavy machinery from falling if a rope broke while the machinery was being hoisted. The first fail-safe, fall-safe passenger elevator quickly followed. It made possible the construction of skyscrapers, greatly altering the landscape of modern cities. What daring publicity stunt helped launch sales of Otis's elevators? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Hard work is simply the refuge of people who have nothing whatever to do.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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pull a face (at someone)— To make a grimacing or humorously distorted facial expression (at someone). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nebuta Matsuri (2025)Nebuta Matsuri, the main festival of Aomori Prefecture in Japan, features processions of huge, elaborately painted papier-mâché figures called nebuta. In the capital city of Aomori, the nebuta figures, up to 49 feet wide and 26 feet high, depict ferociously scowling samurai warriors. Illuminated from within by candles, they glow as they are carried through the streets at nightfall. Spectators wear hats made of flowers and dance in the streets. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: heardphoneme - A word for a hallucination in which voices are heard. More... pig's whisper - A loud whisper, meant to be heard. More... noises off - Sounds created offstage to be heard during a play's production; the term has been extended to mean distracting or intrusive background noise. More... pink noise - Random white noise that has been adjusted so there is equal energy per octave and an equal amount of each signal can be heard. More... | |