Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, March 3, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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wraith
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Grammatical PersonGrammatical person refers to the degree of involvement of a participant in an action, event, or circumstance. There are three degrees of grammatical person. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Kalahari DesertThe Kalahari Desert is an arid to semi-arid desert area that extends over 362,500 sq mi (900,000 sq km), forming most of Botswana and extending into Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Although its name is likely derived from words meaning "great thirst" or "a waterless place," the Kalahari is not a true desert. In fact, some areas receive erratic rainfall and are well vegetated, and the region is home to a number of animals. What is sand mining, and how does it impact the Kalahari's wildlife? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 George Bizet's Carmen Premieres in Paris (1875)Though it is today one of the most popular operas ever written, Carmen was initially met with such scathing reviews that the opera house had to give away tickets to get people to see it. Shortly after its disastrous premiere, its author, Bizet, died of a heart attack and the director of the struggling opera house resigned. Later that year, however, Carmen opened in Vienna to wide acclaim. Why did critics initially hate Bizet's story of a soldier's doomed love for a wild Gypsy girl? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George Mortimer Pullman (1831)Pullman was a successful American industrialist and the inventor of the railroad sleeping car. In 1893, he built a company town for his workers in Illinois, and it was showcased in the World's Fair as a grand social experiment. The next year, the town of Pullman was the scene of a violent workers' strike that nearly halted US rail traffic. When Pullman died in 1897, he had to be buried in a massive steel-and-concrete vault to keep activists from disinterring his body. What happened to his town? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Bashfulness is an ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age.Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hard on the eyes— Unattractive; ugly. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cambodia National Culture Day (2017)This event was created in 1999 by the Cambodian government as a way to promote the country's arts and culture. The yearly event is composed of displays, exhibits, live theatrical performances, and conferences held throughout the country. The festival honors the living elder masters in different artistic and cultural fields. The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts coordinates many of the events and uses the occasion to take stock of Cambodia's cultural infrastructure, including its historic temples, pagodas, and other landmarks important to the country's heritage and tourism. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: shotshot - Referring to a fluid dram of liquor, the term is fairly new, dating to 1928 (PG Wodehouse). More... deadline - Originally a Civil War term for a line that marked the distance a prisoner could go before being shot on sight. More... schuss - A straight downhill ski run, it is literally German for "a shot." More... beside the point - The expression is from ancient archery, and literally means one's shot is wide of the target. More... | |