Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, June 17, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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clairvoyant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Exclamation PointsAn exclamation point or exclamation mark ( ! ) is a punctuation mark commonly used to express strong, intense emotions in declarations. When is an exclamation point in parentheses used in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 William Kemmler's 8-Minute ExecutionIn 1890, William Kemmler became the first person to be executed via electric chair after murdering his wife with a hatchet. Appeals on the grounds that electrocution was "cruel and unusual punishment" were opposed by Thomas Edison, who allegedly wanted to use the electric chair to convince people that alternating current electricity was dangerous. Witnesses reported that Kemmler's last words were "Take it easy and do it properly, I'm in no hurry." What was Warden Charles Durston's reply? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Night Attack (1462)The Night Attack was a battle fought between the forces of Wallachian Prince Vlad III, known as Vlad the Impaler, and the forces of Mehmed II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire. After Vlad raided Bulgaria and killed more than 20,000 Turks and Bulgarians, Mehmed marched on Wallachia, and the two powers fought a series of skirmishes. In the Night Attack, Vlad attacked the Turkish camp in an attempt to assassinate Mehmed. The attempt failed, but Mehmed retreated anyway. Why? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Hersey (1914)Born in China to missionary parents, Hersey worked as a journalist in East Asia, Italy, and the Soviet Union from 1937 to 1946, including as a war correspondent during WWII. In 1944, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel A Bell for Adano, which depicts the Allied occupation of a Sicilian town. He later combined fact and fiction in his most famous work, Hiroshima, about the experiences of atomic-blast survivors. How did Hersey inspire Dr. Seuss to write The Cat in the Hat? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Every woman is supposed to have the same set of motives, or else to be a monster.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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it is what it is— The situation, circumstance, or outcome has already happened or been decided or established, so it must be accepted even if it is undesirable. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (2019)In 1994 the United Nations established World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17. The date coincides with the June 17, 1994, signing of the Convention to Combat Desertification. Observances draw attention to the need for cooperation between nations in order to stop desertification and respond to drought. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: whistle | |