Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, January 22, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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besmirch
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Common Prepositional ErrorsSome common errors that arise when trying to determine the appropriate preposition to use with a particular kind of verb. How are prepositions used with transitive verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 QuicksandQuicksand is a bed of loose sand mixed with water that forms a soft shifting mass that yields easily to pressure and tends to engulf any object resting on its surface. It is usually found at the mouth of a river or along a stream or beach. Although it is possible for a person to drown while mired in quicksand, the human body is less dense than quicksand, so getting stuck in it is not as dangerous as it is often portrayed in movies. What is the recommended method for escaping quicksand? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The January Uprising Begins (1863)The January Uprising began as a spontaneous rebellion of young Poles in Russian Poland against conscription into the Imperial Russian Army. They were soon joined by Lithuanians living in the territory, but they were severely outnumbered and isolated, and they failed to win any major victories or capture any major cities. The Russians crushed the uprising and began an intensive program of Russification. During the uprising, Russian soldiers are said to have defenestrated what composer's piano? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Johan August Strindberg (1849)Strindberg was a master of the Swedish language and an innovator of dramatic and literary styles. He achieved renown with the novel The Red Room, in which he satirized hypocrisy in Swedish life. It helped initiate Swedish realism and revealed his remarkable style, which he developed in an impressive assortment of novels, plays, stories, histories, and poems. Which of Strindberg's plays, now considered the first modern Swedish drama, was originally rejected by the national theater? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words, —'Wait and hope'.Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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happen by— To appear, arrive, pass, or come upon casually or by chance. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Australian Open Tennis (2020)The Australian Open is the year's first event in the Grand Slam of tennis. It is played on synthetic hard courts in Melbourne, Australia, and known officially as the Australian Championships. The championship for men began in 1905, and the women's championship in 1922. The matches became an "open" (to both amateurs and professionals) in 1969. Margaret Smith Court, an Australian known for her powerful serve and volley, is the all-time champion in the women's division of the open; she won the title 11 times between 1960 and 1973. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tobaccoblend - A combination of different types or grades of fabric, spirits, tea, tobacco, etc. More... tabac - A color, from the French for tobacco. More... cud, quid - The etymological base of cud appears to be "glutinous substance"; quid—"piece of tobacco for chewing"—is a variant of cud. More... petunia - It is related to the tobacco plant, hence its name, from Portuguese petum, "tobacco." More... | |