Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, December 22, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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rigmarole
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Future Perfect Continuous TenseLike the future perfect tense, we use the future perfect continuous tense (also known as the "future perfect progressive tense") to indicate how long something has been happening once a future moment in time is reached. It can also be used in this way to indicate what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Shire HorsesThis breed of draft horse native to central England is known for the long, white, silky hair on the lower parts of its legs. Widely used as a war horse during the Middle Ages, the Shire was well adapted to carry the excessive weight of armor worn by both horse and rider. It was also originally the staple breed used to draw ale delivery carts. The tallest of the modern draft breeds, a Shire stallion may stand how many hands high? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Environmental Activist Chico Mendes Is Assassinated (1988)Since 1985, swaths of the Amazon region have been cleared for cattle ranching and farming on an unprecedented scale. Mendes, a Brazilian environmental activist and unionist, fought to stop the deforestation. He managed to keep local rancher Darly Alves da Silva from clearing an area designated as a reserve, even facilitating a warrant for da Silva's arrest, but it was never acted upon, and da Silva was implicated in Mendes's 1988 assassination. Where was Mendes killed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960)A 1980s art star whose rise and fall were rapid, dramatic, and emblematic of the era, Basquiat started out as a street artist before being "discovered" by the art establishment. He created vigorously spontaneous works in paint, collage, and crayon on unprimed canvas that featured crude, angry, rawly powerful figures and graffiti-like text. He died of an overdose at 27, just a few years after meeting with mainstream success and months after the death of what other artist, his friend and mentor? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be the business— To be exceptionally great, excellent, high-quality, or skillful. Primarily heard in UK, Ireland. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Forefathers' Day (2018)Observed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and by various New England societies throughout the country, Forefathers' Day commemorates the landing of the Pilgrims, who arrived in 1620 on the Mayflower and established the second English colony in North America. The Old Colony Club of Plymouth was the first group to observe the anniversary in 1769, and members still celebrate Forefathers' Day on December 22. Wearing top hats and led by a drummer, they march down the main street of Plymouth. After firing a small cannon, they return to their Club for breakfast and toasts to the Pilgrims. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hintadumbrate - Means "to give a sketchy outline or disclose only in part; hint," and its root is Latin umbra, "shadow." More... allude, refer - To allude is to "mention indirectly, hint at," and to refer is to "mention directly." More... infer, imply - Infer means "to deduce, reason," and imply means "to hint at, suggest." More... inkle, inkling - To inkle is to communicate in an undertone or whisper, to give a hint of something, which gives us inkling. More... | |