Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, July 8, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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swallowtail
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using the Active VoiceYou should always use the active voice if an agent is identifiable or contains information that is relevant to the rest of the sentence. On the other hand, when an agent is unknown or irrelevant, we usually switch to the passive voice and do what to the agent? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Nikola Tesla: "The Man Who Invented the 20th Century"Deemed "the patron saint of modern electricity" by contemporary biographers, Nikola Tesla was an inventor, physicist, and mechanical and electrical engineer best known for his revolutionary contributions to the fields of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla was the holder of myriad patents and is credited by some with the invention of radio technology. What strange behaviors led many to regard Tesla as a "mad scientist"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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.svg.png) Dow Jones Averages Reaches Its Lowest Point of the Great Depression (1932)The Dow Jones Industrial Average, often referred to as the Dow, is the best-known and most widely followed market indicator in the world. Tracking the performance of 30 blue-chip US stocks—which sometimes change—the Dow is thought to reflect the overall condition of the US economy. In 1932, the Dow reached its lowest point of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22—down almost 90 percent since 1929. It did not return to pre-1929 levels until 1954. Who is the Dow named after? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Davison Rockefeller (1839)After two years of high school, Rockefeller—the man destined to become, by some estimates, the richest person in history—got a job as a bookkeeper. A few years later, he formed a food handling firm that prospered in the American Civil War. In 1863, he entered the brand new oil business, and within 15 years, his company dominated the American petroleum industry. A noted philanthropist, he donated $550 million during his lifetime. It has been said that Rockefeller had what two ambitions in life? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Accidents will occur in the best-regulated families.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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(it's) just as well (that) (something happened)— It is or turned out to be beneficial (that something happened). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Durham Miners' Gala (2017)Soon after founding the first union in 1869, a group of mine workers in northern England initiated a campaign to lobby their pit bosses, who met regularly in the city of Durham. What began as a formal protest became a grand party, and by 1871, the first official Durham Miners' Gala was held. Today, the gala has become more of a heritage celebration of coal mining. The event usually features about 30 community brass bands, which march through the streets. The procession ends at Durham University, where attendees gather to hear speeches from trade union leaders and politicians. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: inncaravanserai - A type of inn in Eastern countries where caravans are put up. More... harbergery - An inn or place of entertainment. More... inn - Etymologically a place "in" which people live or stay, from Proto-Germanic innam. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Nanoscale Microscopy Technique Allows Scientists to Pinpoint RNA Molecules in the BrainCells contain thousands of messenger RNA molecules, which carry copies of DNA's genetic instructions to the rest of the cell. MIT engineers have now developed a way to visualize these molecules in higher resolution than previously possible in intact ... More... | |