Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, March 14, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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platitude
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Regular and Irregular VerbsRegular verbs form the past simple tense and past participle the same way (-d or -ed), while irregular verbs do not adhere to a distinct or predictable pattern. What common verb is known as a "highly irregular" verb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Vein of LoveAccording to tradition, the vena amoris, or "vein of love," runs directly from the heart to the fourth finger of the left hand. This belief has been cited in Western cultures as one reason why engagement and wedding rings are worn on that finger. The earliest known use of the phrase is found in A Treatise of Spousal or Matrimonial Contracts, published in 1686 by Henry Swinburne, who claims the concept derives from what ancient culture? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin Awarded Patent (1794)By the end of the 18th century, the mechanization of fabric production in England had created a huge demand for US cotton, but cotton production was hampered by the large amount of manual labor required to remove the sticky seeds from the raw fiber. Whitney's cotton gin solved this problem, performing the work mechanically and quickly. Cotton production in the US skyrocketed, as did the slave population—which quadrupled by 1850. Why was Whitney unable to profit from his invention? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Doris Eaton Travis (1904)Travis was a Broadway and film performer who began her career at the age of 14 by joining the Ziegfeld Follies, the long-running annual Broadway revue famous for its extraordinarily elaborate theatrical productions and chorus of beautiful women, known as the Ziegfeld Girls after the show's producer. Travis, who became one of the stars of the revue, lived to the age of 106 and was the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl. What did she do in the 74 years after her show-business career ended? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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beautiful people— Stylish, glamorous, and often wealthy people admired by others. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Mamuralia (2019)According to one Roman myth, Mamurius was a smith who was run out of the city because the shields he made for the soldiers failed to protect them when they were substituted for the sacred shield that had fallen from heaven. Another explanation is that Mamurius represented the old year, which had to be driven away on the day preceding the first full moon of the new Roman year. In any case, the rite that took place on March 14 involved leading a man wearing only animal skins through the streets of Rome. He was pursued and beaten with long white rods until he was driven out of the city. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: modelphantom - A model of a baby used in obstetric demonstration. More... configure - First meant "fashion according to a model." More... pattern - Comes from patron, "something serving as a model." More... Frisbee - Was modeled on pie tins from Mrs. Frisbie's Pies—made by the Frisbie Bakery of Bridgeport, Connecticut—which students began tossing around in the 1920s. More... | |