Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, March 15, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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scattergood
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Stative VerbsStative verbs are used to describe static conditions. They are usually unable to progress through time, and they therefore cannot be used when forming the continuous or progressive forms of verb tenses. What verb tenses can stative verbs be used in? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 BackpackingBackpacking is an outdoor activity that combines hiking and camping. Because backpackers must carry all of their own supplies for food and shelter, backpacking excursions involve fewer comforts than traditional camping trips. On the other hand, because backpackers can remain in the wilderness overnight and resume hiking each morning, they are able to access remote areas of wilderness that are inaccessible by car or too distant for day-hikers to reach. What dangers do backpackers face? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Russian Settlers Establish Fort Ross, California (1812)Located in what is now Sonoma County, California, Fort Ross was in operation from 1812 to 1841 as a trading outpost for the Russian-American Company. The southernmost settlement in the Russian colonization of North America, it was established as an agricultural base to supply Alaska. Fort Ross was the site of California's first windmills and shipbuilding yards, and Russian scientists there were among the first to record California's cultural and natural history. How did the Fort get its name? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (1852)Although she was born a member of the upper class, which traditionally identified with British rule in Ireland, Gregory embraced Irish cultural nationalism and became an extremely important figure of the Irish literary revival. She collected and published several volumes of Irish folk tales, wrote and translated dozens of plays, and directed multiple theater companies. The name of Irish author Denis Johnston's play The Old Lady Says No! refers to what incident involving Gregory? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I think you are wrong to want a heart. It makes most people unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in luck not to have a heart.L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a legend in (one's) own mind— A person who affects or believes him- or herself to be of greater importance or notoriety than is actually the case. A humorous, ironic twist on the phrase "a legend in one's own lifetime." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Joseph Jenkins Roberts's Birthday (2021)Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809-1876), Liberia's first and seventh president, led the movement for an independent Liberia, established in 1848. This day (also known as J. J. Roberts Day) is also an occasion to pay homage to Liberia's historical role as Africa's oldest republic. In many respects, Roberts's birthday stands apart from other holidays that recognize Liberian notables because he was a member of the established Americo-Liberian elite, a group historically criticized for wielding control over the country's indigenous population for more than a century. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: leavingdrawing room - A shortening of withdrawing room, the room to which the ladies withdrew, leaving the men to smoking and drinking. More... egression - The action of going out or leaving a place. More... bequeath - Etymologically, what you bequeath is what you "say" you will leave someone in your will—but the original sense "say, utter" died out, leaving the legal sense. More... exclaustration - Being expelled from or leaving a religious retreat; it is also the return to secular life by someone who has been released from their religious vows. More... | |