Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, March 20, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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quandary
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Dangling PrepositionsDespite what you may have been taught, it’s a myth that ending a sentence or clause with a preposition is an error. Where did this myth originate? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 "La Marseillaise""La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written and composed in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle and became the rallying cry of the French Revolution. Originally known as the "Marching Song of the Rhine Army," it got its present name because it was first sung on the streets of Paris by troops from Marseille. The words of what famous revolutionary song written in 1870 were intended to be sung to the melody of "La Marseillaise"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Approves Antiretroviral Drug AZT as a Treatment for AIDS (1987)Though it was originally developed as an anticancer drug in 1964, azidothymidine (AZT) was never approved for that purpose. Two decades later, however, it was discovered to be effective in fighting HIV. At the time, thousands of people were dying of AIDS, and no other treatment was forthcoming. For humanitarian reasons, the drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in a matter of months, rather than the usual eight to 10 years. How does the drug prevent HIV from reproducing? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Burrhus Frederic "B.F." Skinner (1904)Forgoing his early goal of being a writer, Skinner earned his doctorate in psychology at Harvard, where he later spent much of his teaching career. A leading exponent of the behavioral approach to psychology, Skinner maintained that learning occurs as a result of an organism responding to, or operating on, its environment, a phenomenon he called operant conditioning. Skinner did extensive research with animals and, during WWII, worked for the US government training what animal to guide missiles? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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make (someone's) jaw drop— To cause someone to pause in astonishment, awe, or disbelief, especially with his or her mouth left open. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nowruz (Iranian New Year) (2018)The first day of spring (nowruz means "new day") is celebrated by all religious groups in Iran and Afghanistan. In Iran, Nowruz is an event lasting 13 days, during which people wear new clothes, give gifts, and visit friends and relatives. Banquet tables traditionally hold seven foods starting with the letter S. Plates with sprouting wheat symbolize fertility, as do eggs, which are colored. Other symbols are a mirror, candlesticks, and a bowl of water with a green leaf in it. The 13th day after Nawruz is Sizdah-Bedar, and everyone picnics in the country or on rugs in city parks. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: offerbid - Derives from Old English beodan, "to offer or command." More... carrot-and-stick - Refers to an offer of reward countered by the threat of punishment. More... blind fold - Worn by the Greek statue for justice so she cannot see the bribes being offered to her, hence, blind justice. More... cast pearls before swine - To offer something valuable to someone who does not appreciate it. More... | |
| In the News | |
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NASA: California Has One Year of Water LeftPlagued by prolonged drought, California now has only enough water to get it through the next year, according to NASA. In an op-ed published Thursday by the Los Angeles Times, Jay Famiglietti, a senior water scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory ... More... | |