Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, May 28, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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girth
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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PhrasesGrammatical phrases are groups of two or more words that work together to perform a single grammatical function in a sentence. What is an appositive phrase? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The NutcrackerThe Nutcracker, a celebrated ballet by Tchaikovsky, tells the story of a young girl whose Christmas gift of a nutcracker turns into a prince and leads her to a magical land. In 1954, George Balanchine choreographed and premiered his New York City Ballet version, which was later made into a feature film. Mikhail Baryshnikov choreographed another enormously popular version for the American Ballet Theatre. What novel instrument did Tchaikovsky use in the Nutcracker score? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 NASA Announces Discovery of Ice Deposits on Mars (2002)Launched in April 2001, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft was sent by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to look for evidence of water on Mars. A little over a year later, NASA announced that water had been detected there in the form of ice, suggesting the possibility of microbial life on the Red Planet. The Phoenix lander confirmed the presence of water in 2008. The presence of what element led NASA researchers to conclude that there was indeed water on Mars? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (1807)Agassiz was a Swiss-born naturalist and geologist. Noticing the presence of huge alpine boulders in areas of Switzerland where there are no glaciers, he hypothesized that glaciers had, at one time, been widespread in the area and had dragged the boulders there. This lent credence to his theory of a recent ice age. He was also a renowned teacher and did notable work with fossils. Agassiz was a lifelong opponent, on religious grounds, of what now-accepted scientific theory? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have (one's) head read— To have one's logic or sanity examined or reevaluated, usually regarding some ridiculous decision, plan, or idea. A reference to a pyschiatric evaluation, the phrase is usually used prescriptively. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Oberammergau Passion Play (2020)The Oberammergau Passion Play has been held since the 17th century in the small woodcarving village of Oberammergau, Germany, in the Bavarian Alps. The play, depicting the story of Christ's suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection, is presented in six hours by a cast of about 2,000. All performers are villagers, and the 600 with speaking parts are required to have been born in Oberammergau. Legend says that the play was first performed in 1634 in fulfillment of a vow to God that they would reenact the Passion if he would spare the villagers from the plague. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: rib | |