Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 19, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dissenter
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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"Will" and Interrogative SentencesAs a modal auxiliary verb, "will" is particularly versatile, having several different functions and meanings. If we want to make a question, what do we do to "will"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 MonarchomachsWith a name meaning "killers of monarchs," the Monarchomachs were originally members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France who opposed absolute monarchy at the end of the 16th century. Born out of the wars between Catholics and Protestants, the Monarchomachs promoted a theory of tyrannicide—the killing or assassination of tyrants for the common good—in their advocacy of popular sovereignty. What separated their political vision from the modern conception of democracy? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Syngman Rhee, First President of South Korea, Dies in Exile (1965)Born in Korea shortly before it was occupied by Japan, Rhee was condemned to life in prison in 1897 for anti-Japanese activity. Amnestied and released in 1904, he went on to become the first Korean to earn a doctorate from a US university. In 1919, he was elected president of a provisional government in exile. Following WWII, he was elected the first president of Korea, with US backing. Ruling as an anti-Communist dictator, Rhee went to war against North Korea in 1950. Why did he resign in 1960? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Rosalyn Yalow (1921)Yalow was a medical physicist who developed the technique of radioimmunoassay (RIA)—a simple way to measure tiny concentrations of substances such as hormones, enzymes, or drugs in blood or other bodily fluids. She originally applied RIA to study blood insulin levels in diabetes mellitus, but the method soon found hundreds of other applications. For these discoveries, she shared the 1977 Nobel Prize in medicine, becoming only the second woman to win the award in this field. Who was the first? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 You, who are blessed with shade as well as light, you, who are gifted with two eyes, endowed with a knowledge of perspective, and charmed with the enjoyment of various colors, you, who can actually see…the Three Dimensions—how shall I make clear to you the extreme difficulty which we in Flatland experience in recognizing one another's configuration?Edwin Abbott (1838-1926) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be caught off (one's) guard— To be taken by surprise; to be caught when one is vulnerable, careless, or inattentive. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kinderzeche (2018)Kinderzeche is a festival in Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria, Germany, to honor the children who saved the town during the Thirty Years' War of 1618-48. In 1632, according to legend, as Swedish troops rode into town, a small band of children appeared before the commander and asked for his mercy. The commander's heart softened, and he spared the town. The celebration today is a reenactment of the event, with participants in costumes of 17th-century town councilors and soldiers. Highlights of the festival include the parade of the Dinkelsbühl Boys' Band and a performance of a sword dance. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: paint | |
| In the News | |
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A Marine Ecologist on Swimming with Sharks and What 'Jaws' Got WrongThe first time he encountered a tiger shark in the water, marine ecologist Neil Hammerschlag was in the Bahamas conducting research. His team was on a boat and hadn't seen many sharks, so when someone yelled, "Tiger shark!" he grabbed his snorkel ... More... | |