Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, February 11, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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leeway
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ArticlesArticles identify whether a noun is definite (specific or particular) or indefinite (general or unspecific). What are the three articles? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Peacock Angel of the YezidiThe Yezidi, or Yazidi, are members of a syncretistic religion that developed during the 12th century and mingles folk traditions with the beliefs and practices of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. According to Yezidi tradition, the world is under the care of 7 Holy Beings, or Angels. Preeminent among these is Melek Taus, or the Peacock Angel, leader of the archangels and a demiurge whose tears of repentance quenched the fires of hell. Why do some people believe the Yezidi are devil worshippers? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Lateran Treaty Signed Between Italy and the Vatican (1929)The Lateran Treaty ended the political dispute between the Italian government and the Papacy that began when Italy took Rome as its capital in 1871 and limited papal sovereignty to just a few buildings. The treaty created Vatican City and gave the Holy See sovereignty there. Though Italy was under fascist control when the treaty was signed, successive governments have upheld the agreement. The Lateran Treaty established Roman Catholicism as the state religion of Italy. When did this change? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Leo Szilard (1898)Szilard was a Hungarian-American nuclear physicist who, after immigrating to America from Nazi Germany, was instrumental in the development of nuclear weapons. Working with Enrico Fermi, he developed the first self-sustained nuclear reactor based on uranium fission. He was one of the first to realize that nuclear chain reactions could be used in bombs and, in 1939, helped to establish the Manhattan Project. Later he protested nuclear warfare and decided to study what instead? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Flowers...are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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grill (someone) (about something)— To question or interrogate someone intensely and relentlessly (about something). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.svg.png) Cameroon Youth Day (2020)This national holiday in the west-African nation of Cameroon celebrates the country's young people. School children and youth groups participate in parades, often accompanied by university students in marching bands. Businesses sell food and merchandise along the parade routes. Many schools and youth groups also organize art exhibits and sports activities. The theme of Youth Day is to encourage Cameroon's young people to renounce violence and other unsavory behaviors and to embrace education, sports, and artistic activities. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: umbrellaumbrella - Etymologically, it is a "little shadow." More... parapluie - A French word for umbrella, derived from Latin pluvia, "rain." More... bumbershoot - Another word for umbrella, formed by combining an alteration of the word umbrella and an alteration of the word parachute. More... nuclear umbrella - A protective status in which a nuclear state promises to use its arsenal to defend an ally without nuclear capabilities. More... | |