Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, April 21, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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arduous
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Present Continuous Tense (Progressive)We create the present continuous tense by using the present participle (-ing form) of the verb after the present-tense form of the auxiliary verb "be." What is the most common occurrence of the present continuous tense? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Blood Eagle TortureReferenced in some Norse saga literature, the Blood Eagle is a form of torture and execution performed by cutting the victim's ribs by the spine, breaking them to resemble blood-stained wings, and pulling the lungs out through the gaping wound. Though some cite archaeological evidence of the practice, others argue that it never occurred and that accounts of the method are based on folklore or inaccurate translations. Which Viking Age rulers were reportedly victims of the gruesome torture? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Brazilian Patriot Tiradentes Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered (1792)Born José Joaquim da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes gained his nickname, which means "tooth-puller," working as a healer in his youth. In the late 1780s, he joined and soon became the leader of a revolutionary movement against Portuguese rule in Brazil that was inspired by the American Revolution. In 1789, the movement was betrayed and its leaders were imprisoned. They were freed and exiled in 1792 with the exception of Tiradentes, who was executed in Rio de Janeiro. What was done with his remains? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Max Weber (1864)Weber was a German sociologist and political economist whose most famous and controversial work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, examines the relationship between Calvinist—or Puritan—morality, compulsive labor, bureaucracy, and economic success under capitalism. Weber also wrote about social phenomena such as charisma and mysticism, which he saw as antithetical to the modern world and its underlying process of rationalization. What other important works did he write? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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come out of (one's) shell— To become more outgoing. Usually said of a shy or introverted person. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Salzburg Easter Festival (2019)Salzburg's Easter Festival was founded by the famous conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) in 1967 to honor the works of Richard Wagner (1813-1883), and it remains one of Europe's most elite and elegant music festivals. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is the festival's resident ensemble, and the chorus of the Vienna State Opera performs the choral works. A full-scale opera is performed twice during each nine-day festival in the Großes Festspielhaus (large festival hall), which is known for its unique acoustics and seats more than 2,000. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wakingexpergefacient, expergefaction, expergefactor - A synonym for awakening is expergefacient; expergefaction is waking up and an alarm clock is an expergefactor. More... dysania - The state of having a hard time waking up and getting out of bed in the morning. More... experrection - Waking up or awakening. More... hypnagogic jerks, hypnopompic jerks - Hypnagogic jerks are the spasms that happen right when you fall asleep; hypnopompic jerks happen right when you are waking up. More... | |