Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, October 23, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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recalcitrant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Past Perfect TenseThe past perfect tense expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. What else can it show? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Marcus Licinius CrassusCrassus was the wealthiest man in Rome when he, along with Julius Caesar and Pompey, formed the First Triumvirate in 60 BCE. The three men were able to control Rome, and though Pompey and Crassus were jealous of each other, Caesar kept the arrangement going. However, seven years later, Crassus invaded Parthia, hoping for a victory to match the successes of Pompey and Caesar. His army of about 44,000 was defeated in the desert by 10,000 Parthian archers, and he was killed while trying to do what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Creation of the World, According to Archbishop James Ussher (4004 BCE)For centuries, Christian scholars have tried to deduce the precise date of creation, using Biblical sources to help guide them. One such scholar, 17th-century Irish archbishop James Ussher, devised a system of dates that sets the creation of the world at 4004 BCE. Ussher's chronology rests upon the beliefs that creation began in autumn—the season that marks the start of the year according to the Jewish lunisolar calendar—near the autumnal equinox and that creation began on what day of the week? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Heisman (1869)Memorialized after his death by the trophy that bears his name, Heisman was an American collegiate football coach and one of the game's greatest innovators. He was responsible for legalizing the forward pass in 1906, and he originated the center snap and the "hike" count signals of the quarterback in starting play. He coached at several colleges between 1892 and 1927, compiling a record of 185 wins, 68 losses, and 18 ties. What team did he coach to a record 222-0 victory in 1916? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Men's lives are as thoroughly blended with each other as the air they breathe: evil spreads as necessarily as disease.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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naff off— A forceful exclamation of dismissal, disdain, or impatience. Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Chulalongkorn Day (2021)Chulalongkorn Day is a national holiday in Thailand commemorating King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), the king who abolished slavery and introduced numerous reforms when the country was still called Siam. He succeeded to the throne in 1868 when he was 15 years old, was crowned in 1873, and ruled until his death in 1910. He had been a pupil of Anna Leonowens, who taught the young prince about Abraham Lincoln. The story of her stay in the royal court, and her teaching of the royal children and concubines, was told in Margaret Landon's book, Anna and the King of Siam. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: impactfighting fire with fire - Early American settlers had to put out great prairie fires and learned that setting a circle or strip of land on fire could stop the path or lessen the impact of a big fire—giving us the phrase "fighting fire with fire." More... freezing rain - Rain that freezes on impact with the ground or objects. More... draw - The billiard ball's recoil after impact. More... impinge, infringe - To impinge is to come into contact or encroach or have an impact; to infringe is to encroach on a right or privilege or to violate. More... | |