Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, August 18, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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terse
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Conjunctive Adverbs of PurposeAdverbs of purpose tell us why something happens or is the case. We often use conjunctive adverbs to indicate a relationship of reason or purpose between two independent clauses. What are some common conjunctive adverbs of purpose? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Babylonian LawThe study of ancient Babylonian law, supported by thousands of primary sources that include contracts, deeds, and legal decisions, was greatly advanced by the discovery of a set of 282 laws known as the Code of Hammurabi. Created around 1760 BCE by the sixth Babylonian King, Hammurabi, the Code loosely divided the population into three classes and established an "eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth" style of punishment for criminals. What was the penalty for perjury? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Lost Colony: The Colony of Roanoke Is Found Deserted (1590)Located off what is now the North Carolina coast, Roanoke Island was the site of the first English settlement in North America. Its original colonists, sent by Walter Raleigh, arrived in 1585 but stayed only a year. A second group led by John White arrived in 1587. Shortly thereafter, White returned to England for supplies. When he finally returned to the island, he found that all of the colonists had vanished. Their fate is still unknown. What possible clue was found carved into a tree there? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Meriwether Lewis (1774)After serving as a captain in the US army, Lewis became secretary to President Thomas Jefferson. When Congress approved a plan to find a land route to the Pacific Ocean, Jefferson selected his trusted associate, along with William Clark, to head the expedition. In 1807, Lewis was made governor of the Louisiana Territory. His sudden death—either by murder or suicide—in 1809, while on his way to Washington, DC, is still the subject of controversy. Why have requests to exhume his body been denied? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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alarm bell— A sudden warning or intimation of danger, risk, or ill fortune. (Often pluralized.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Mohegan Wigwam Festival (2018)This Mohegan festival, which takes place in Uncasville, Connecticut, has evolved from the pre-Columbian thanksgiving ceremony held by the Indians to thank their creator for the corn harvest. The Wigwam Festival, now billed as a "homecoming"—a time for Mohegan Indians living in all parts of the world to come home and renew their roots—is an opportunity to conduct tribal business, such as the installation of new chieftains and medicine women, and to update one another on tribal matters. Other events include traditional dancing, storytelling, and arts and crafts displays. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hornbugle - Originally the word for ox, whose horn was used to give signals, it came to mean such a musical instrument. More... tantara - Fanfare on a trumpet or horn. More... rhinoceros, rhinoceroses - Rhinoceros comes from Greek rhin-, "nose," and keras, "horn"; the correct plural is rhinoceroses. More... unicorn - From a Greek wild ox known as monokeros, "one horn," which, in Latin, became unicornis. More... | |