Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, December 16, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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tangential
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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[sic]When a quotation contains a mistake, such as a spelling mistake or grammatical error, but we wish to preserve the quotation exactly as it was written, we can mark it with the word "sic" (Latin for "thus" or "so") in brackets to let the reader know that the error was not our own. When should this generally be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Antonine PlagueLasting from 165 to 180 CE, the Antonine Plague was a pandemic, either of smallpox or measles, brought to the Roman Empire by troops returning from campaigns in the Near East. The epidemic killed off entire towns and claimed the lives of two Roman emperors—Lucius Verus and his co-regent Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, whose family name was given to the plague. It resurged again nine years later and had drastic social and political effects throughout the empire. What was its estimated death toll? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Massachusetts Colonists Protest Tax with the Boston Tea Party (1773)In 1773, American colonists led by Samuel Adams dressed as Native Americans and threw hundreds of chests of tea from three British ships into Boston Harbor. The action was taken to prevent the payment of a British tax on tea and to protest the British monopoly of the colonial tea trade authorized by the Tea Act. In retaliation, Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts, which further united the colonies against the British. What American founding father called for the cost of the tea to be repaid? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770)One of the greatest composers of Western classical music, Beethoven was born to a musical family and was a precociously gifted pianist and violist. After nine years as a court musician, he moved to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn. There, he quickly won fame and renown as both a virtuoso and a composer. He went on to become the first major composer to be able to earn a living independently, without support from the church or court. Beethoven's deafness resulted in what unique historical record? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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go out with the girls— To go and socialize somewhere with a group of exclusively female friends. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Misa de Gallo (2019)Misa de Gallo is the start of the Christmas season in the Philippines, blending Christian tradition with the harvest thanksgiving of the ancient Filipinos. As the first cockcrows are heard at dawn on Dec. 16, bells of the Roman Catholic churches ring, brass bands parade through towns, and skyrockets burst—all to awaken people for the Misa de Gallo (Cock's Mass in English and Simbang Gabi in Tagalog) each morning of the festival. On Dec. 24 there is a midnight mass, after which people congregate in food stalls or go home for traditional breakfasts of rice cakes and ginger tea. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: rentrentier - A person who makes income from rent. More... disposable income, discretionary income - Disposable income is money you have left after paying taxes; discretionary income is money left over after paying for rent, food, utilities, and life's other necessities. More... farm - Comes from medieval Latin firma, "fixed annual payment or rent." More... | |