Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, October 17, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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circumference
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Viewpoint AdverbsViewpoint adverbs are used to indicate whose point of view we are expressing, or to specify what aspect of something we are talking about. What do they modify in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 TicklingTickling is perhaps one of the most common human behaviors known, and many of history's greatest thinkers have tried to explain it. Charles Darwin, for example, noticed that a person cannot tickle himself, and scientists have observed that ticklish spots are found in the same places as protective reflexes. These observations suggest that ticklishness confers an evolutionary advantage by encouraging individuals to reflexively protect themselves. Are animals ticklish? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Loma Prieta Earthquake Disrupts World Series (1989)Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics was scheduled to begin at 5:35 PM on October 17, 1989, but Mother Nature intervened. The Loma Prieta earthquake struck San Francisco at 5:04 PM with 60,000 fans already inside Candlestick Park. Due to the timing, it was the first major earthquake to be broadcast on live TV, and a blimp covering the game was able to coordinate emergency efforts. What did broadcaster Al Michaels say before the network feed was lost? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mae Carol Jemison (1956)Born in America at a time when being black and female were considered distinct disadvantages, particularly in the scientific community, Jemison nevertheless had big dreams and intense drive. She studied medicine and was a practicing physician until the late 1980s, when she made history by becoming the first black female astronaut. In 1992, she skyrocketed to fame aboard the US space shuttle Endeavour as the first African-American woman in space. Why did she resign from NASA the next year? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Alliance, n.: In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted into each others' pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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high muckety-muck— slang An especially important, influential, and authoritative person, especially someone who is overbearingly or arrogantly so. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Black Poetry Day (2021)To honor the contributions African Americans have made to American life and culture, Stanley A. Ransom, of Long Island, New York, proposed Black Poetry Day in 1970. October 17 is the birthdate of Jupiter Hammon, the first African-American poet to publish his own verse. Although it is celebrated all over the state of New York, it has yet to be formally proclaimed a state holiday. Oregon has declared October 17 Black Poetry Day, and schools elsewhere take advantage of the opportunity to encourage African-American students to express their thoughts and feelings through poetry. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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