Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 26, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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befuddled
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Adverbs of PlaceAdverbs of place tell us about an aspect of location associated with the action of a verb, specifying the direction, distance, movement, or position involved in the action. Adverbs of place generally appear immediately after the main verb in a sentence if it is intransitive. Where do they appear if the verb is transitive? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Cargo CultsFirst appearing in the late 19th c. but particularly prevalent after WWII, when many Pacific Islanders witnessed airdrops of supplies, cargo cults are the unorthodox religious movements that appeared in tribal societies after interaction with Westerners. Believing fallen cargo came from divine spirits who would send more upon seeing rituals based on the foreigners' behavior, the tribes built straw airplanes, radios made of coconuts, and other pseudo-Western items. Do any cargo cults exist today? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US President Truman Signs Executive Order Desegregating Military (1948)Expanding on 1941's Executive Order 8802, which prohibited discrimination in the defense industry, Order 9981 required that all persons in the armed forces be treated equally without regard to race or other factors. It also called for the establishment of an advisory committee to facilitate the implementation of this policy. The order eliminated segregation in the armed forces within years, though racism was another matter entirely. What historically black boot camp was eliminated by Order 9981? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Aldous Huxley (1894)Huxley was a British writer known for his works of witty and pessimistic satire, like Antic Hay (1923), which established his reputation as a novelist. In his acclaimed Brave New World, he envisions a nightmarish, scientifically controlled future society that underscores the dehumanizing aspects of technological progress. His later works reveal an interest in philosophy and mysticism. Though he spent much of his life in the US, he was repeatedly denied citizenship for what reason? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!Jane Austen (1775-1817) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be a roaring success— To be extremely or triumphantly successful. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Esala Perahera (Arrival of the Tooth Relic) (2020)Esala Perahera is a celebration in Kandy, Sri Lanka, that lasts 10 nights and pays homage to the sacred relic believed to be a tooth of the Buddha. Processions are held each night, and the tooth is paraded in an elaborate howdah (platform) on the back of an ornately decorated elephant. Dozens of richly caparisoned elephants follow, and there are also drummers beating big bass drums and small tom-toms, horn blowers, the famous Kandyan dancers, acrobats, and torch bearers holding aloft baskets of blazing copra (coconut meat). More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wormscan of worms - Based on an image of a container of maggots for use as fish bait. More... food for worms, food for fishes - A dead human being is food for worms; a drowning victim is food for fishes. More... silkworm - Is not a worm, but a caterpillar. More... wormwood - There are no worms or wood involved in wormwood, which is an alteration of the word wermod, a plant used for making vermouth, absinthe and medicine. More... | |