Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, November 19, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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sundry
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Non-Restrictive AppositivesAppositives that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence are known as "non-restrictive appositives." How do we set non-restrictive appositives apart from the rest of the sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Carnival of BaselAt precisely 4 AM on the Monday after Ash Wednesday, all of the lights in the town of Basel, Switzerland, are turned off, and the city is lit only by decorative lanterns that are carried or worn on the heads of those gathered for the start of Basler Fasnacht—the Carnival of Basel. For the next 72 hours, thousands of costumed revelers, or Fasnächtlers, enjoy the parades and music of Switzerland's biggest carnival. Why is the use of multicolored confetti frowned upon at the carnival? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Apollo 12 Lands on the Moon (1969)In 1969, four months after the Apollo 11 mission culminated with the first moonwalk, Apollo 12 returned to the Moon with astronauts Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, and Richard Gordon. The craft touched down on the Ocean of Storms near the Surveyor 3 probe, which had landed there in 1967, and Conrad and Bean walked to the probe to remove some of its instruments to take back to Earth for study. What were Conrad's first words when he set foot on the lunar surface? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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_%e2%80%93_retouched_by_Carschten.jpg) Anna Seghers (1900)Born Netty Reiling, Seghers was a German novelist. She won fame with her first novel of social protest, The Revolt of the Fishermen, but in 1933 she was forced to leave Germany. In Mexico, she wrote The Seventh Cross, a poignant story of escape from a concentration camp. Other works include Transit and a study of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. After World War II she settled in East Berlin. Who starred in the film version of The Seventh Cross in 1944? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To be different from your fellow creatures is always a misfortune.L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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get-rich-quick— (used as a modifier before a noun) Of or characterized by generating a large sum of money quickly and (typically) without requiring much effort or energy. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Hamburger Dom Winter Fair (2019)The Hamburger Dom, or Dom Fair, is one of the most famous Christmas fairs in the world. It was named after its original location, which was in the open square in front of the Dom, or cathedral, in Hamburg, Germany. Today the fair is held in the Heiligengeistfeld, or Holy Ghost Field, in the middle of the city. It features booths filled with toys, gingerbread, crafts, and other temptations for holiday shoppers. The Fair begins in November and doesn't close until just before Christmas, giving shoppers from Hamburg and the surrounding area plenty of time to buy their gifts. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: lemonpip - An apple seed or lemon seed is a pip. More... citrus, citron - Latin citrus signified the citron, an Asian tree with lemonlike fruit; citron is a French derivative of citrus, coined on the model of French limon, "lemon." More... lemon sole - Actually a type of flounder—not sole—it has nothing to do with lemon other than it is pale-yellow in color; the name derives from French limande, "flatfish." More... muddle - To muddle a lemon is to lightly mash slices to release the essential oils. More... | |