Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, November 18, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dumbstruck
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subject-Verb Agreement with Uncountable NounsBecause uncountable nouns cannot be plural, it is very important to use the correct subject-verb agreement. What form of a verb must uncountable nouns take? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Persian Royal RoadThe Persian Royal Road was an ancient highway built by King Darius I in the 5th Century BCE to facilitate communication throughout his empire. The route, reconstructed using archeological research and historical records, passed through present day Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. The Greek historian Herodotus' praise for the speed of the Persian couriers, who were said to be able to travel the road's 1,677 miles (2,699 kilometers) in seven days, is popularly associated with what US public service? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 William Tell Shoots an Apple Off His Son's Head (1307)Tell is a famous Swiss folk hero who is remembered in a 15th-century chronicle as an expert marksman who assassinated a tyrannical Austrian governor. According to the legend, the governor of Tell's Swiss canton hung his hat on a stake and ordered all the townsfolk to bow to it whenever they passed. When Tell refused, he was ordered to shoot an apple off his son's head with a crossbow as punishment. He succeeded and later escaped imprisonment to kill the governor—an event that led to what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832)Nordenskiöld was a Finnish-born Swedish geologist, mineralogist, geographer, and explorer who wrote several valuable books on geography, cartography, and travel. In 1858, he settled in Stockholm and became professor and curator of mineralogy at the Swedish State Museum. He led several expeditions to the Arctic island of Spitsbergen between 1864 and 1873 and later became the first to sail from Norway to Alaska through the Northeast Passage. He was also the first to break through what ice barrier? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.Henry James (1843-1916) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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Is the glass half empty or half full?— A question to determine whether a given situation could be perceived optimistically or pessimistically. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Oman National Day (2019)This holiday in Oman observes the birthday of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said (b. 1940) on November 18, but festive events continue through the 19th as well. His accession to the throne took place on July 23, 1970. National Day events include parades, pageantry, an equestrian show, a marine festival, fireworks, and, every five years, an elaborate military show. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: punchpunch buggy - A game in which the first player to call "punch buggy!" on sighting a Volkswagen Beetle gets to punch the other person. More... doust - A firm blow or punch. More... pack a punch, pack it in - Pack a punch is of U.S. origin from the 1920s, as is pack it in. More... punch - Has an obscure origin, but stories include it being from Sanskrit panca, "five/five kinds of," as the drink had five ingredients. More... | |