Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, March 21, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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corpuscle
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ParenthesesParentheses are used to separate information that is not necessary to the structure or meaning of the surrounding text. When can parentheses be replaced by em dashes? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 GeniusIn Roman mythology, a genius was the guardian spirit of a man, an institution, a city, a state, or a large family unit known as a gens. As the guardian spirit of an individual, the genius was largely the force of one's natural desires. An individual's notable achievements or intellectual prowess was attributed to his genius, and, eventually, a high achiever was said to have genius or be a genius. Today, by contrast, a genius is considered a person with an intelligence quotient of what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Bahá'í Calendar Begins (1844)Founded in Iran in the mid-19th century by Baha' Ullah, Bahá'í is a religion based on the unity of all faiths. Adherents pray daily, fast 19 days a year, and follow a strict ethical code. Because of the religion's 19 initial disciples, the number 19 is considered sacred, and the Bahá'í calendar, which began in 1844, consists of 19 months of 19 days, with four additional "intercalary" days. Today is the first day of the 168th year of the Bahá'í Era. On what day does the Bahá'í week begin? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joseph Fourier (1768)Fourier was a French mathematician and Egyptologist. As an engineer on the Egyptian expedition led by Napoleon—who later made him a baron—he conducted anthropological investigations and wrote the preface to the monumental Description de l'Égypte, whose publication he oversaw. In mathematics, he is primarily known for his work in heat conduction, for his use of the Fourier series to solve differential equations, and for the related concept of the Fourier transform, which is what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bone-idle— Extremely lazy. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Phagwa (2019)The Hindu festival of Phagwa celebrates the Vernal Equinox and the start of the Hindu New Year. In Trinidad and Tobago, a Carnival spirit has pervaded the festivities, which now combine both secular and religious elements and are no longer confined to Hindus. The celebration includes bonfires (to symbolize the destruction of Holika, the evil sister of King Hiranya Kashipu) and Chowtal-singing competitions, which mix religious and secular music and are heavily influenced by calypso. The spraying of Abeer powder, a red vegetable dye, gives everyone's hair and skin a tie-dyed effect. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wonderadmire - Can mean "to wonder at, to be slightly surprised." More... marvel - Traces to Latin mirabilia, from mirari, "wonder at." More... nine days' wonder - An old term (c. 1325) for an event or phenomenon that attracts enthusiastic interest for a short while, but is then ignored or forgotten. More... Wonder Bread - Got its name from a vice president who watched a hot-air balloon race shortly before the bread needed a name—"wonder" is how he described the event and then the bread. More... | |