Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 20, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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remiss
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Continuous AspectThe continuous aspect is a subclass of the imperfective that emphasizes the progressive nature of the verb, looking at it as an incomplete action in progress over a specific period of time. The continuous aspect does not indicate the duration of the action, nor how often it occurs. Instead, it shows what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Hermann HesseHesse was German novelist and poet. His major works, such as Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946, deal with the individual's search for spiritual fulfillment, often through mysticism. A few years after Hesse's death in 1962, his novels enjoyed a revival of popularity due to their association with some of the themes of the 1960s counterculture movement. Hesse personally knew and was influenced by what famous psychoanalyst? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 South Carolina Becomes the First State to Secede from the US (1860)In the 1830s, South Carolina residents, frustrated by agricultural tariffs, broached the possibility of secession. Tariff reform appeased them for some time, but following the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. The state's governor immediately demanded all federal property within the state, including Fort Sumter. The firing on Sumter by Confederate batteries in 1861 precipitated the Civil War. When was the US flag raised over Fort Sumter again? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Branch Wesley Rickey (1881)Rickey was an American baseball executive. In 1919, he devised baseball's farm system of using minor-league teams to train major-league players. In 1945, after he took over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he defied convention and broke a long-standing race barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson, the first black player in the major leagues. A deeply religious man, the "Mahatma"—as Rickey was popularly known—never played, attended, or managed games on Sundays. What protective gear did he introduce to baseball? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Fortune cannot aid those who do nothing.Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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go soft on (someone)— To treat someone delicately, gently, or leniently; to not criticize, punish, or berate someone too harshly. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Posadas (2019)This nine-day Christmas celebration in Mexico commemorates the journey Mary and Joseph (the parents of Jesus) took to Bethlehem. Reenacting their search for shelter (posada in Spanish) in which Jesus might be born, a group of "pilgrims" will knock on someone's door and ask the owner to let them in. The master of the house finally invites them to enter and the Posadas party begins. The children are blindfolded and given a chance to break the piñata by swinging at it with a stick. The posadas are repeated for nine evenings, the last occurring on Christmas Eve. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: trafficfilter lane - The lane of traffic reserved for those making a specific turn at the next junction. More... reverse commute - To travel to work opposite of the normal rush of traffic. More... traffic calming - The deliberate slowing of traffic in residential areas, with speed bumps or other obstructions. More... traffic - Can only be traced to Italian traffico and trafficare, "trade," but that is all that is known. More... | |