Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, March 14, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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confound
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Interrogative Adjectives vs. Interrogative PronounsThe most common mistake regarding interrogative adjectives is confusing them with interrogative pronouns. This is because all three interrogative adjectives ("what," "which," and "whose") can also function as interrogative pronouns. What is an easy way to be sure whether you are dealing with an interrogative adjective or an interrogative pronoun? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Estates-General of 1789The Estates-General was a legislative assembly made up of the three classes of French subjects—clergy, nobility, and commoners. King Louis XVI summoned them in 1789 to solve the financial crisis facing his government. However, rather than pass his proposed fiscal reforms, they began airing their many grievances, chiefly their frustrations with the voting process. In an act that kindled the French Revolution, members of the third estate then formed an assembly of their own and vowed to do what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Lakeview Gusher Starts Spewing Oil (1910)Modern oil-drilling technology includes safety features such as blowout preventers, but when the Lakeview Gusher exploded in 1910, such safeguards were nonexistent. The result was one of the largest oil spills in history. Located in Kern County, California, the out-of-control oil well created rivers of crude oil that workers rushed to contain with makeshift dams. Though it never caught fire, it eventually released some 9 million barrels of oil. When was it finally brought under control? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ferdinand Hodler (1853)By the time Hodler was a teenager, tuberculosis had killed much of his family. Having been trained in the basics of painting by his stepfather, the orphaned Hodler—imbued with a strong sense of mortality—became one of the most important Swiss painters of his time. He evolved a powerful means of expression with strong rhythmic patterns and a tight linear structure, which he called "parallelism." In the months leading up to January of 1915, Hodler made a series of paintings documenting what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Why is it that when you awake to the world of realities you nearly always feel, sometimes very vividly, that the vanished dream has carried with it some enigma which you have failed to solve?Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a legend in (one's) own lifetime— A person who has an extraordinary level of fame or reputation while he or she is still alive. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Heroes Day (2021)St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a nation comprised of a group of more than 30 islands in the Caribbean Sea, with St. Vincent being the largest. March 14 is National Heroes Day, when citizens honor their national hero, Chief Joseph Chatoyer. He led the nation in preventing the Europeans from colonizing the islands. On March 14, 1795, Chatoyer was killed by British troops at Dorsetshire Hill. A monument honoring Chatoyer stands on this spot; as part of the Heroes Day celebration, a wreath-laying ceremony is held at the obelisk at Dorsetshire Hill. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: rayshaft - A ray of light. More... radiate - As an adjective, it means having rays or parts coming out of a center, from Latin radius, "ray, spoke." More... radio wave - Travels like rays of light, so it takes its name from Latin radius, "spoke of a wheel; ray of light." More... sol-fa - The sol-fa syllables are doh, ray, mi, fah, sol, lah, te—for the notes of the major musical scale. More... | |