Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, March 16, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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habit-forming
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Imperfective AspectAs there is no separate verb form in English for the imperfective aspect, it is expressed through different grammatical structures, which change depending on what we are saying about the temporal structure of the action. We sometimes classify these structures as what two subclasses of the imperfective? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Legend of El DoradoEl Dorado is the legendary golden city sought by 16th- and 17th-century explorers in the New World. The legend is said to derive from a custom of the Chibcha people of Colombia who each year anointed a chieftain and rolled him in gold, which he ceremonially washed off in a sacred lake while casting offerings of emeralds and gold into the waters. The supposed location of the fabled city shifted as new regions were explored and ruled out. In what places did the conquistadors search for El Dorado? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 My Lai Massacre (1968)During the Vietnam War, US troops searching for Viet Cong fighters massacred hundreds of civilians from the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. Though they had not located any insurgents in My Lai, the soldiers opened fire on the villagers, killing men, women, and children. The incident was initially covered up by army officers. When it was revealed in the press nearly two years later, it divided the US public and increased pressure to end the war. How many soldiers were convicted for their crimes? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Rosa Bonheur (1822)One of the most famous female painters of the 19th century, Bonheur was trained by her father—an art teacher—and began regularly exhibiting her work at the Paris Salon in 1841. Her unsentimental paintings of animals became very popular, particularly in England and the US, and her most famous painting, The Horse Fair, gained her an international reputation. Who gave her formal permission to dress as a man so that she could study horses at the actual Horse Fair in Paris? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 By what strange law of mind is it that an idea long overlooked, and trodden under foot as a useless stone, suddenly sparkles out in new light, as a discovered diamond?Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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lemon law— A law requiring an automobile manufacturer or dealer to replace, repair, or refund the cost of an automobile that proves to be defective after purchase. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Urho's Day (2021)St. Urho, whose name in Finnish means "hero," is credited with banishing a plague of grasshoppers that was threatening Finland's grape arbors. His legend in the United States was popularized in the 1950s; after being celebrated as a "joke holiday" for several years in the Menahga-Sebeka area, the idea spread to other states with large Finnish populations. The actual celebrations include wearing St. Urho's official colors—Nile Green and Royal Purple—drinking grape juice, and chanting St. Urho's famous words, "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go away," in Finnish. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: proofevidence, proof - Evidence—from Latin e-, "out," and videre, "to see"— is information that helps form a conclusion; proof is factual information that verifies a conclusion. More... proof in the pudding - A shortening of the saying "the proof of the pudding is in the eating," i.e. a thing is tested by putting it to its intended use. More... proof - The strength of alcohol. More... adduce - To cite as an instance or as proof or evidence. More... | |