Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, January 22, 2020)Word of the Day | |||||||
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dupery
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Periods with AbbreviationsWhile the period is most commonly used to mark the end of a sentence, it is also used to mark abbreviations. In addition to standard abbreviations (words that are shortened by omitting one or more letters), there are also three sub-categories that can use periods. What are they? More... |
Article of the Day | |
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![]() BirdsongsBirds sing using the syrinx, the avian vocal organ. Singing is usually confined to males and is at its height during the breeding season, when it is used to attract a mate. Birdsongs are usually more complex and longer than birdcalls. There is evidence that songs are learned, while certain calls are inherited. A male chaffinch hatchling, for example, sings a "subsong" but only learns the true song by hearing and imitating adult males. Deaf birds sing, but their songs are different in what way? More... |
This Day in History | |
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![]() The January Uprising Begins (1863)The January Uprising began as a spontaneous rebellion of young Poles in Russian Poland against conscription into the Imperial Russian Army. They were soon joined by Lithuanians living in the territory, but they were severely outnumbered and isolated, and they failed to win any major victories or capture any major cities. The Russians crushed the uprising and began an intensive program of Russification. During the uprising, Russian soldiers are said to have defenestrated what composer's piano? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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![]() Johan August Strindberg (1849)Strindberg was a master of the Swedish language and an innovator of dramatic and literary styles. He achieved renown with the novel The Red Room, in which he satirized hypocrisy in Swedish life. It helped initiate Swedish realism and revealed his remarkable style, which he developed in an impressive assortment of novels, plays, stories, histories, and poems. Which of Strindberg's plays, now considered the first modern Swedish drama, was originally rejected by the national theater? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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![]() Edwin Abbott (1838-1926) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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happen by— To appear, arrive, pass, or come upon casually or by chance. More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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![]() Australian Open Tennis (2020)The Australian Open is the year's first event in the Grand Slam of tennis. It is played on synthetic hard courts in Melbourne, Australia, and known officially as the Australian Championships. The championship for men began in 1905, and the women's championship in 1922. The matches became an "open" (to both amateurs and professionals) in 1969. Margaret Smith Court, an Australian known for her powerful serve and volley, is the all-time champion in the women's division of the open; she won the title 11 times between 1960 and 1973. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tobaccoblend - A combination of different types or grades of fabric, spirits, tea, tobacco, etc. More... tabac - A color, from the French for tobacco. More... cud, quid - The etymological base of cud appears to be "glutinous substance"; quid—"piece of tobacco for chewing"—is a variant of cud. More... petunia - It is related to the tobacco plant, hence its name, from Portuguese petum, "tobacco." More... |