Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, October 17, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adjective ComplementsAn adjective complement is a phrase or clause that provides information necessary to complete an adjective phrase’s meaning. Adjective complements are similar to but distinct from modifiers of adjectives. How do they differ? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Were-JaguarThe were-jaguar is one of the most prominent and enigmatic designs of the Olmec people, who flourished between 1200 BCE and 400 BCE in south-central Mexico. Seen in murals and statues, the design is characterized by a down-turned mouth, almond-shaped eyes, fleshy lips, and a cleft forehead. Though the term is derived from the Old English "were," meaning "man," and "jaguar," the predatory cat revered by the Olmec people, some scholars believe were-jaguars represent a different animal. Which one? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Loma Prieta Earthquake Disrupts World Series (1989)Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics was scheduled to begin at 5:35 PM on October 17, 1989, but Mother Nature intervened. The Loma Prieta earthquake struck San Francisco at 5:04 PM with 60,000 fans already inside Candlestick Park. Due to the timing, it was the first major earthquake to be broadcast on live TV, and a blimp covering the game was able to coordinate emergency efforts. How long is the earthquake believed to have lasted? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mae Carol Jemison (1956)Born in America at a time when being black and female were considered distinct disadvantages, particularly in the scientific community, Jemison nevertheless had big dreams and intense drive. She studied medicine and was a practicing physician until the late 1980s, when she made history by becoming the first black female astronaut. In 1992, she skyrocketed to fame aboard the US space shuttle Endeavour as the first African-American woman in space. Why did she resign from NASA the next year? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Everybody who is incapable of learning has taken to teaching.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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sounding board— A person or group with whom one discusses an idea, plan, or suggestion in order to evaluate its strengths, acceptability, feasibility, practicality, etc. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (2018)The United Nations named October 17 the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in 1992. In doing so, the U.N. followed the lead of some non-governmental organizations that had already dedicated the day to promoting awareness of the plight of the extremely poor. The U.N. observance focuses especially on the needs of the destitute in developing countries. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: heapmogul - A small mound of snow on a ski course, from Old Norse mugl, "little heap." More... congeries - A Latin word meaning "heap or pile of disparate items" or "disorderly collection." More... midden - Traces back to Scandinavian forms mog, "muck," and dynge, "heap," and first meant "dunghill" before it denoted a prehistoric or historic refuse heap. More... accumulate - One of its Latin elements is cumulus, "a heap." More... | |
| In the News | |
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The Universe May Have 10 Times as Many Galaxies as We ThoughtThe universe — or at least the “observable universe,” the part we're theoretically capable of detecting from Earth — is much more crowded than scientists had thought. Previous estimates, based on the Hubble Deep Field images captured in the mid-1990s, suggested ... More... | |