Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, September 10, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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malefic
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Comparative Adverbs vs. Comparative AdjectivesComparative adverbs, like comparative adjectives, are used to describe differences and similarities between two things. While comparative adjectives describe similarities and differences between two nouns, what do comparative adverbs make comparisons between? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 PowerbockingPowerbocking is a sport involving the use of spring-loaded stilt-like devices, which allow practitioners to run, jump, and perform acrobatic feats with superhuman ability. Known generically as jumping stilts and by hobbyists as bocks, after German inventor Alexander Böck, the stilts allow users to jump up to 5 ft (1.5 m) high and cover up to 9 ft (2.7 m) in a single stride. The closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing featured powerbockers. How fast can one run while wearing bocks? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (1547)The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh was part of the War of Rough Wooing, the ruthless war launched by Henry VIII against Scotland to force a marriage between Mary Queen of Scots and his son, the future Edward VI. The first "modern" battle to be fought in the British Isles and the last pitched battle between the English and Scottish royal armies, it resulted in a catastrophic defeat for the Scots, who came to call it Black Saturday. After the battle, what happened to the infant Queen Mary? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Thomas Sydenham (1624)Known as "the English Hippocrates," Sydenham was a physician who advocated direct observation instead of theorizing to determine the nature of disease. His conceptions of the causes and treatments of epidemics and his classic descriptions of gout, smallpox, malaria, and other maladies established him as a founder of modern clinical medicine and epidemiology. He introduced laudanum as a medication, helped popularize the use of quinine in treating malaria, and described what "dancing" disease? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I can stand brute force, but brute reason is quite unbearable. There is something unfair about its use. It is hitting below the intellect.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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let the good times roll— To have as much fun or live life as richly as possible. (Often said as an imperative.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Belize National Day (2024)A public holiday in Belize commemorating the Battle of St. George's Caye, fought in 1798 between the Spanish and the English over possession of the area. English loggers had settled in what is now Belize in the early 17th century, and British pirates used to hide in the cays there waiting for opportunities to plunder passing Spanish ships. It is also known as St. George's Caye Day. Numerous festivities take place on the days leading up to the holiday, including a grand carnival parade. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: shootingbiathlon - Consists of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. More... off-hand - Meaning "at once, straightway," it probably originally referred to shooting without a rest or support; as "unpremeditated," it is attested to 1719. More... potshot - Comes from shooting an animal purely for food (pot), rather than for simple conquest. More... scope - First meant "target for shooting," from Greek skopos, "target." More... | |