Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, June 28, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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baleful
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Verbs and Indirect ObjectsOnly verbs that express an action being relayed to or done for another person or thing can take indirect objects. What are these verbs called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Cyclo-CrossPerformed on short courses featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills, and obstacles, cyclo-cross is a form of bicycle racing that requires riders to dismount, carry their bikes while maneuvering around obstructions, and remount without losing speed. Some trace the origins of the sport to the early 1900s, when European road racers would race to the next town by cutting through fields, over fences, and taking various other shortcuts. Why did the sport gain popularity in 1910? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Stonewall Riots Begin (1969)In 1969, gay rights in the US were virtually nonexistent, and discrimination was routine. On June 28, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular Mob-run gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, and began arresting patrons for cross-dressing. A crowd gathered outside, taunting police and throwing debris. The police responded with violence. Protest rallies and more riots followed, marking the awakening of the US gay rights movement. How long after the riots were the first Gay Pride marches held? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Melvin Kaminsky, AKA Mel Brooks (1926)Brooks is an American film director, writer, actor, and producer best known for his wild parodies that mix satire with slapstick. He started out as a television comedy writer but soon turned to film. He won an Oscar for his first feature film, The Producers (1968), a comic masterpiece of bad taste, and followed it with such films as the Western-inspired Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, a parody of the horror genre. Who speaks the only word in his Silent Movie? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Custom may lead a man into many errors; but it justifies none.Henry Fielding (1707-1754) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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inner circle— A small, exclusive, and intimate group of like-minded people sharing a common goal, pursuit, or purpose. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Montreal Jazz Festival (2017)What has been called the most important cultural event in Canada and the largest jazz festival in the world, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal has attracted some of the greatest names in jazz—including Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and Dizzy Gillespie. More than a million people come to the festival, about one-fourth of them from outside Montreal. Montreal's streets are closed for the 11 days of the festival to make room for the outdoor performances, which take place rain or shine, and represent a mix of traditional, modern, and innovative jazz. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: meltingfondue - Comes from French fondre, "to melt." More... relent, resolve - Relent and resolve originally meant "melt, dissolve" in literal (under the influence of heat) and figurative senses. More... eliquate - To melt or liquefy. More... clarify - To make clear by removing impurities or solid matter, as by heating gently; to purify butter by melting. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Scientists Try to Break Nigeria's Cycle of Replanting Bad YamsLadi Adaikwu's top-shelf merchandise is hidden in a mud-brick shed in a warren of narrow alleyways in Angwan-Dodo, a farming village close to Nigeria's capital city Abuja. The steel door is secured with a heavy padlock, and when she opens it, a shaft ... More... | |