Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, August 21, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pastille
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using "Should"The modal verb "should" is used to politely express obligations or duties. It is also used to ask for or issue advice, suggestions, and recommendations; to describe an expectation; to express surprise; and to create what kind of sentences? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Papyrus of the Nile DeltaPapyrus was an early form of paper made from the pith of the papyrus plant, a wetland sedge that once flourished in the Nile Delta. Though its earliest use has been traced to Ancient Egypt, it was also widely used throughout the Mediterranean region, inland parts of Europe, and southwest Asia. Making a sheet of papyrus involves a complex process of layering the inner piths of the stems, then hammering, drying, and polishing them. What unlikely article of clothing was made from papyrus? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Philippine Opposition Leader Benigno Aquino, Jr., Is Assassinated (1983)Aquino, leader of the Philippines' Liberal Party, was planning to run for president in 1972 when Ferdinand Marcos, the incumbent, declared martial law and had Aquino arrested on inflated charges. Aquino served eight years in prison, at one point demonstrating against his sentence with a 40-day hunger strike. In 1980, he was released to go to the US for heart-bypass surgery. After three years in exile, he returned to the Philippines and was immediately assassinated. Why had Aquino gone back? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930)The younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret was a somewhat controversial member of the royal family, mainly as a result of her turbulent love life. She called off her first engagement, to a divorcee 16 years her senior, when it became clear that marrying him would mean renouncing her right of succession. A few years later, she wed photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, but rumors of her infidelities abounded, and they eventually divorced. With whom did she supposedly stray? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 'Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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pitch a fit— To become very or unreasonably angry or upset; to have an outburst of rage, frustration, or ill temper. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) Salzburg Festival (2018)Although the Salzburg Festival features musical events by a wide variety of composers and performances by internationally celebrated musicians, conductors and singers, the festival has always paid special homage to Mozart. The festival takes place at the end of July and through most of August at different venues throughout Salzburg—most of the operatic and large orchestral pieces are performed in the Festspielhaus, chamber music concerts are usually given in the hall of the Mozarteum, and the Residenz is the scene for serenade concerts held by candlelight. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sedimentdecant - Means to pour wine, taking pains not to disturb any sediment at the bottom; decant comes from Latin de- and canthus, "angular lip of a jug." More... allogenic, allochthonous - Geological material that has been transported and then accumulates elsewhere is allochthonous, and sediment carried by a river is allogenic. More... lithification - The process of compaction of sediment into stone. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Scientists Create Vomiting Machine to Study How Norovirus is TransmittedResearchers have used animal models, stem cells, and 3-D printing to solve some of science’s greatest mysteries. But now, students and professors at North Carolina State University are using a custom-made barfing machine and artificial vomit to study ... More... | |