Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, July 16, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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flapjack
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Dummy PronounsDummy pronouns are words that function grammatically as pronouns, but which do not have antecedents like normal pronouns do. This means that, unlike normal pronouns, dummy pronouns do not replace a noun, phrase, or clause. They are also commonly referred to as what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 QuartzQuartz, which can split light into a spectrum, is one of the most common of all rock-forming minerals and one of the most important constituents of the earth's crust. Quartz may be transparent, translucent, or opaque; it may be colorless or colored. Varieties are classified as crystalline and cryptocrystalline, whose crystal structure can be seen only under the microscope, if at all. What is quartz's rank on the Mohs scale of hardness? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 District of Columbia Established as US Capital (1790)Adopted in 1787, the US Constitution allowed for the establishment of a capital city that could govern itself, but it did not stipulate a location. While it was agreed that the capital should not be in any one state, its placement was hotly debated. In 1790, Congress struck a compromise between the North and South, establishing a capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was chosen by President George Washington. District residents were unable to vote in presidential elections until when? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ginger Rogers (1911)Rogers was an Oscar-winning American actress and dancer—most notably as Fred Astaire's partner. Their first appearance together was in 1933's Flying Down to Rio. Though they were not given star billing, they stole the show and went on to make nine more films together. Rogers also starred in several non-musical roles and, by 1945, was one of the highest paid performers in Hollywood. She was honored by the Kennedy Center in 1992. Why were parts of the event prohibited from being televised? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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snatch (someone) from the jaws of death— To rescue someone at the last moment from near or certain death. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Festa del Redentore (2017)Festa del Redentore, or Feast of the Redeemer, is celebrated in Venice, Italy. It marks the end of the plague in the late 16th century, when the people of Venice dedicated a church on Giudecca Island to Jesus the Redeemer and vowed to visit it every year. They continue to keep their promise by building a bridge of boats across the Giudecca and Grand canals, across which worshippers can walk back and forth during the celebration. During the festival the cafes, canals, and the church are decorated with lights. When the bridge of boats closes around nine o'clock, a fireworks display begins. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sailscrab-skuit - A small, open fishing boat with sails. More... haul - Originally had the nautical meaning of "to trim the sails to sail closer to the wind." More... sail - Once meant specifically "to travel on a ship with sails," and, later, "to travel on any ship"; figuratively, it means "to go through effortlessly," as in, "to sail through the exam." More... three sheets to the wind - Pertains to chains that regulate the angle of sails; if the sheets were loose, the boat would become unstable and tipsy. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Are Human Hands Really More Primitive than Chimp Hands?When humans think about primate evolution, we tend to picture ourselves at the pinnacle. But could we be overplaying our hands? New research suggests that human hands may actually be more primitive than the hands of other dexterous primates ... More... | |