Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, September 10, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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commissariat
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using the Subjunctive MoodWhen we use the subjunctive mood to express actions that we demand, suggest, or request that someone else take, or describe something that must be the case, we use the base form of the verb. What does that mean? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 InfrasoundLong thought to cause feelings of fear or awe, infrasound is sound that is able to cover long distances with little dissipation at a frequency too low to be detected by the human ear. It is created by natural phenomena such as ocean waves and earthquakes and can be artificially produced by explosions or machines. Infrasound is used by some animals to communicate over long distances and by predators to "freeze" their prey. Why do some scientists believe infrasound is related to ghost sightings? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (1547)The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh was part of the War of Rough Wooing, the ruthless war launched by Henry VIII against Scotland to force a marriage between Mary Queen of Scots and his son, the future Edward VI. The first "modern" battle to be fought in the British Isles and the last pitched battle between the English and Scottish royal armies, it resulted in a catastrophic defeat for the Scots, who came to call it Black Saturday. What type of bombardment was used for the first time during the battle? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Thomas Sydenham (1624)Known as "the English Hippocrates," Sydenham was a physician who advocated direct observation instead of theorizing to determine the nature of disease. His conceptions of the causes and treatments of epidemics and his classic descriptions of gout, smallpox, malaria, and other maladies established him as a founder of modern clinical medicine and epidemiology. He introduced laudanum as a medication, helped popularize the use of quinine in treating malaria, and described what "dancing" disease? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bystander effect— A social psychological phenomenon in which the more people there are viewing a crisis or crime, the less likely they are to offer aid to the victim(s). Also known as bystander apathy. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Fiesta de la Vendimia (2019)Spain is famous for its sherry, and some of the best sherry comes from the southwestern part of the country, in a district known as Jerez de la Frontera. In mid-September Jerez de la Frontera holds its Grape Harvest Festival, or Fiesta de la Vendimia, which includes flamenco dancing, cante jondo singing (a variety of Spanish gypsy song), and bullfighting. There is also an official "blessing of the grapes" and the season's first wine before the statue of San Ginés de la Jara, the patron saint of the region's winegrowers. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: organsconsensus - Came into English in a physiological sense, meaning "a set of organs" or the "involuntary or reflex actions of the nervous system." More... homogenous - Can refer to genetically related tissue or organs. More... lung - Goes back to an Indo-European word for "light," because of the lightness of the organ. More... sensorium - The seat of common sense, the center of the brain to which sense impressions are transmitted by the nerves from the organs. More... | |