Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, December 30, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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oppugn
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Verbs that Request PermissionBecause modal auxiliary verbs can be quite similar in how they are used, it is sometimes unclear when it's more appropriate to use one instead of another. For instance, "can," "could," "may," and "might" can all be used to ask for permission. Which of these options is the least formal? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 General TsoKnown in the West as General Tso, Zuo Zongtang was a Qing dynasty general who launched his political career by helping suppress the Taiping Rebellion. In the debate among Chinese officials about whether the coast or inland frontier was more vulnerable to attack, Zuo argued that Western interests were commercial in nature and could be contained diplomatically but that Russia's ambitions were territorial and warranted solid frontier defense. How did a popular chicken dish come to be named for him? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Granada Massacre (1066)When Rabbi Samuel ha-Nagid died around the year 1055, his son Joseph succeeded him as leader of the Jewish community of Granada and vizier to the Berber king. At the time, figures in the Muslim community were unhappy with what they believed to be inordinate Jewish political power. Joseph, who was said to be arrogant and ostentatious, in contrast with his father, was eventually assassinated by a Muslim mob in a siege that also claimed 4,000 Jews of Granada. How was Joseph killed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Simon Forman (1552)Forman was arguably the most popular occultist, astrologer, and herbalist in Elizabethan London, despite not possessing a medical degree. He kept detailed records of his unorthodox practice, and his diaries have yielded a wealth of historical information—including contemporary accounts of Shakespeare's plays. He was posthumously implicated in a murder plot that tarnished his reputation and has been characterized as either evil or a quack. What 1611 event is he said to have accurately predicted? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world.Kate Wiggin (1856-1923) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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it's all good— A phrase used to express general approval, unconcern, or disinterest. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Sanghamita Day (2020)Observed by Buddhists in Sri Lanka, this day celebrates the arrival of Sanghamita, daughter of Emperor Asoka of India, in 288 BCE. According to legend, Buddhism was first brought to Sri Lanka by a group of missionaries led by Mahinda, Asoka's son. Mahinda later sent for his sister, Sanghamita, who arrived with a branch from the Bodhi tree at Gaya, sacred to Buddhists as the tree under which the Buddha was sitting when he attained Enlightenment. The sapling was planted in the royal city of Anuradhapura, where Sanghamita founded an order of nuns. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: plateassiette - A prepared dish of food, French for "plate, course of a meal." More... dish, plate - Dish is a more general term and plate is more specialized. More... plate - Etymologically, something "flat," from Latin plattus, "flat," and Greek platys, "broad." More... placard - Comes from French plaquier, "to plate; lay flat." More... | |