Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, March 29, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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ostentatious
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Auxiliary VerbsAuxiliary verbs are verbs that add functional meaning to other "main" or "full" verbs in a clause. They are used to create different tenses or aspects, to form negatives and interrogatives, or to add emphasis to a sentence. What are auxiliary verbs also called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Flea MarketsFlea markets are gatherings of buyers and vendors in open-market layouts. The vast majority of flea markets in rural areas sell goods that are secondhand, while newer but usually inexpensive items can be found at larger urban markets. The original flea market is likely the extant Marché aux puces in the northern suburbs of Paris, named after the flea-infested clothing and rags originally sold there in the 17th cent. What is a car boot sale? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Routledge Expedition Arrives at Easter Island (1914)Today known by its traditional name of Rapa Nui, Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited locations on Earth. The first study of the island by outsiders was undertaken by British archaeologist Katherine Routledge, who spent 16 months on Rapa Nui studying its indigenous Polynesian culture. She interviewed residents and catalogued the island's now-famous stone statues. Her scholarship proved to be invaluable to later researchers. Why did Routledge's husband eventually have her kidnapped? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sam Walton (1918)Born in Oklahoma and raised in Missouri during the Great Depression, Walton opened his first five-and-dime franchise in Arkansas in 1945. Seventeen years later, he opened his first Wal-Mart and began developing the Wal-Mart company into a national chain of massive, centrally controlled discount stores in small towns. By the time Walton died in 1992, his family was the wealthiest in the US, and Wal-Mart had become the country's largest retailer. How was Walton forced out of his first store? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own best.Jane Austen (1775-1817) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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(as) quick as a bunny— Incredibly quickly or speedily. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Boganda Day (2021)In the Central African Republic, Boganda Day marks the anniversary of the death of Barthélemy Boganda, the nation's first prime minister, who died in a plane crash on March 29, 1959. Boganda had been a driving force in the creation of the Central African Republic, which became a self-governing republic in 1958. He was also a leader in the movement to unite black African nations. Boganda Day is a national holiday in the Central African Republic; all banks, official government offices, businesses, and schools are closed. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hurtaposiopesis - Stopping in the middle of a statement upon realizing that someone's feelings are hurt or about to be hurt; when a sentence trails off or falls silent, that is an aposiopesis. More... innocent - From Latin in-, "free from," and nocere, "hurt, injure." More... innocuous - "Harmless, not hurtful," from Latin in-, "not," and nocere, "to hurt." More... collide - Its Latin base is laedere, "hurt by striking." More... | |