Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, September 10, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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duster
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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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 Tracer AmmunitionUsed in machine guns since World War I, tracer ammunition contains modified bullets packed with a pyrotechnic charge that ignites upon firing, illuminating the bullets. This technology enables a shooter to check a bullet's trajectory and adjust their aim accordingly. Since the tracer path can also betray a shooter's position, many modern tracers are designed to become visible only once they have traveled a set distance. Why were tracers especially useful against Zeppelins in World War I? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Empress Elizabeth of Austria Is Assassinated (1898)Renowned for her beauty, Elizabeth of Bavaria married her cousin, Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, but disliked the rigid etiquette of the Viennese court. She therefore spent much of her life wandering abroad. In 1898, an Italian anarchist stabbed the 60-year-old empress in the chest with a sharpened file while she was travelling in Geneva, killing her. Her domestic life is said to been an unhappy one, marred by family tragedies like the death of her only son in what sensational incident? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Hilda Doolittle, AKA H.D. (1886)Born in Pennsylvania, Doolittle traveled to Europe in 1911 and stayed there the rest of her life. In England, under the influence of Ezra Pound, she became associated with the imagists and developed into one of the most original poets of the group. She combined classical themes with modernist techniques to create clear, impersonal, sensuous verse. Doolittle, who became an icon of the gay-rights and feminist movements after her death, was once involved in a love triangle with what other writers? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Comfort, n.: A state of mind produced by contemplation of a neighbor's uneasiness.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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scream (one's) head off— To scream or yell very loudly and lengthily. 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: tribelow man - On an actual totem pole, it is really the most important man in the tribe. More... tribe - From Latin tribus, it may refer to the three divisions of early Romans, the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans. More... tribunal - Originally referred to a seat or raised platform for judges, from Latin tribunus, "head of a tribe." More... cannibal - When Columbus was trying to find the Spice Islands, he was told of a tribe of man-eating natives in Cuba and Haiti called Caribs (from which we get Caribbean) or Caniba (Columbus' rendition of the name); the word canib, meaning "brave and fierce," became cannibal, meaning "anthropophagite," a person who eats human flesh. More... | |