Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, December 21, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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execrate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Irregular VerbsIrregular verbs, by their very definition, do not have spelling rules that we can follow to create the past simple tense and past participles. This means that the only way of knowing how to spell these forms is to memorize them for each irregular verb individually. What are some examples of irregular verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Missorium of Theodosius IThe Missorium of Theodosius I is a silver ceremonial dish that is 29 in (79 cm) across and weighs about 34 lb (15 kg). It was probably made in Constantinople in 388 CE to commemorate the rule of Theodosius I, the last Roman emperor to rule both the Eastern and Western Empires. The ornate dish is one of the best surviving examples of late antique imperial imagery and features Theodosius flanked by his co-emperors, an iconography that was later adopted by Western Christianity and given what name? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Marie and Pierre Curie Discover Radium (1898)Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie were working with pitchblende, a heavy mineral known to contain the radioactive element uranium, when they noticed something unusual. Somehow, the pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium it contained. The culprit was radium, a previously unknown element present in pitchblende only in trace amounts—yet more than a million times more radioactive than uranium. What common household products contained radium until it was discovered to be dangerous? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Cicely Isabel Fairfield, AKA Dame Rebecca West (1892)One of the most highly regarded British prose writers of the 20th century, West began her career as a journalist for feminist and suffragist publications. She then served as a literary critic and political writer for American and British journals. Her admired reports on the Nuremberg Trials were collected in A Train of Powder, and her history of Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, is a classic work of travel literature. Why did West have to be evacuated from her home in 1980? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Men become old, but they never become good.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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it ain't over till/until the fat lady sings— The final outcome cannot be assumed or determined until a given situation, event, etc., is completely finished. ("Ain't" is a colloquial contraction of "is not.") The phrase refers to the stereotypically overweight female sopranos of the opera, particularly the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, whose aria concludes Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. It is often used in reference to organized competitions, such as sporting events, political elections, or the like. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Dongji (2020)In Korea, the Winter Solstice falls during the 11th lunar month. Red bean stew with glutinous rice flour balls is a favorite seasonal dish, particularly on Dongji. This food is not only eaten as a means of warding off disease, but is also offered to the family ancestors, spread around the front door or gate of the house, and, throughout the year, prepared and taken to people who are in mourning. The color red is traditionally thought to repel evil spirits and all misfortune. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: lighterdinner, supper - Dinner is the main meal of the day; supper is the last meal of the day and lighter than dinner. More... short crust - Lighter and crispier than regular pastry crust. More... spring roll - Smaller than egg rolls, they traditionally have a lighter, more delicate pastry wrap. More... etiolate - Become whiter or lighter, especially by not getting enough light. More... | |
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