Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, July 22, 2015)Word of the Day | |||||||
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amylum
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Conjunctive AdverbsConjunctive adverbs are a specific type of conjunction. Conjunctions are used to join together words, phrases, or clauses. Conjunctive adverbs are specifically used to connect two independent clauses. What is an independent clause? More... |
Article of the Day | |
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![]() The DandelionThe dandelion is a perennial herb with a yellow flower head and notched leaves. The flower matures into a globe of fine filaments, called the "dandelion clock." These downy seed carriers are often blown apart by children playing outdoors. Though many consider the dandelion a lawn pest, it is actually quite useful: its young leaves can be eaten as salad greens and the ground, roasted roots are often consumed as a coffee substitute. What beverage is made from the dandelion's flowers? More... |
This Day in History | |
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![]() Battle of Falkirk (1298)The Battle of Falkirk was a major battle in the First War of Scottish Independence. It was fought between the leader of the Scots, William Wallace, and King Edward I of England, also known as the Hammer of the Scots. In 1298, Edward I invaded Scotland and defeated a smaller force led by Wallace at Falkirk. Edward's longbowmen and cavalry decimated Wallace's spearmen, forcing him to retreat. Though victorious, Edward's troops also retreated following the battle, and many deserted thereafter. Why? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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![]() Emma Lazarus (1849)Lazarus was an American Jewish poet. She became an impassioned spokeswoman for Judaism after the Russian pogroms of the 1880s, writing many essays and a book of poems, Songs of a Semite, which contains her best work. Her writings caught the attention of Ralph Waldo Emerson, with whom she shared a lifetime correspondence. She also worked for the relief of new immigrants to the US, and the famous closing lines of her sonnet "The New Colossus" were engraved on what monument? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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![]() Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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fresh legs— In sports, one or more substitute players who have not yet participated in a given game or match, thus having more energy than the players they are replacing. More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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![]() Golden Days (2015)Golden Days is a celebration in Fairbanks, Alaska, of the discovery of gold there on July 22, 1902, and the Gold Rush days that followed. This is the largest summertime event in Alaska. The week of activities includes "Fairbanks in Bloom," billed as the farthest-north flower show, a rubber ducky race, beard and hairy-leg contests, drag races, a golf tournament, concerts, and a grand parade. There's also a Felix Pedro look-alike contest. Felix Pedrone (remembered as Felix Pedro) was the Italian immigrant who first found gold on a creek near what is now Fairbanks. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hospitalconservatory - Comes from an Italian word for a hospital for foundlings, to whom music was taught. More... ambulance - Once brought the hospital to the patient—and kept the name when it reversed the process and started bringing the patients to the hospital; its original meaning was "mobile hospital following an army." More... nosocomial - "Pertaining to a hospital" or "originating in a hospital." More... bedlam - The word bedlam is a contraction of Bethlehem, a hospital in London that became a lunatic asylum. More... |