Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, September 25, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Prepositions Used with Static VerbsWe use "to" with motion verbs when we describe the movement from one location to another. "Arrive," however, is considered a "static" verb, meaning it indicates no movement from point A to point B. What preposition do we use with static verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Song YingxingSong Yingxing was a Chinese scientist who authored an encyclopedia covering a wide variety of technical subjects during the late Ming Dynasty. Published in 1637, Tiangong Kaiwu—Exploitation of the Works of Nature—was divided into chapters with broad themes, including agriculture, transportation, papermaking, and the use of gunpowder weapons. Although other encyclopedias had been previously published, Tiangong Kaiwu was distinguished by its substantial inclusion of what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Sandra Day O'Connor Becomes First Female US Supreme Court Justice (1981)O'Connor is a lawyer and jurist who was the first female associate justice of the US Supreme Court. She served as an assistant state attorney general in her home state of Arizona in the late 1960s and, in 1969, was appointed to the state senate, where she became the country's first female majority leader. She was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the Supreme Court in 1981, becoming the first female justice. Who took O'Connor's Supreme Court seat when she retired in 2006? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mark Rothko (1903)Largely self-taught, Rothko was an American painter who became a leading exponent of a uniquely personal strain within the larger movement of abstract expressionism. By 1950, he was creating his so-called color-field paintings, works with large rectangles of color that express moods. In 1970, he committed suicide shortly after completing what some regard as his masterwork, a group of murals for a chapel in Houston, Texas. For what record-breaking price did one of Rothko's paintings sell in 2007? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Terrible emotions always do sound foolish when we put them into our inadequate words. They are not meant to be spoken—only felt and endured.Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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if (one's) life depended on it— Under any circumstances; no matter what. (Used almost exclusively with a negative statement regarding something that one couldn't or wouldn't do.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 James Dean Festival (2024)James Dean (1931–1955), the legendary film actor and star of Rebel Without a Cause, remains the subject of adulation even decades after his early death. The star's hometown of Fairmount, Indiana, contributes to the ongoing tribute by dedicating an annual four-day festival to the icon. Thousands of fans survey Dean memorabilia and his personal items. Additional events include free showings of the star's most celebrated films, a James Dean look-alike contest, fashion shows, and a trivia contest. Another tradition, the James Dean Car Show, has existed since 1980. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: herdcutting horse - One trained to cut cattle out of a herd. More... pointer, point man - A pointer or point man was first a cowboy riding at the front of a herd of cattle. More... egregious - First meant "remarkably good" and "standing out or apart from the flock or herd; eminent"; its later derogatory sense is probably an ironical use. More... herd - As a verb, it first meant "keep safe, shelter." More... | |