Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, April 10, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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scissure
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Transitive and Intransitive VerbsTransitive verbs take one or more objects in a sentence, while intransitive verbs take no objects in a sentence. What is a direct object? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Shrine of the BookThe Shrine of the Book is the wing of Jerusalem's Israel Museum that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient documents found between 1947 and 1956 in caves on the Dead Sea's northwest shore, at Qumran. Funded by the family of David Samuel Gottesman, a philanthropist who purchased the scrolls as a gift to Israel, the shrine features an unusual white dome that covers an underground structure. How does the museum ensure that the fragile scrolls survive the rigors of being displayed? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Arbor Day Celebrated (1872)Generally observed on the last Friday in April, Arbor Day is an unofficial US holiday designated as a day for planting trees. The holiday was founded by agriculturist Julius Sterling Morton, a Nebraska resident who believed that the prairies were in need of more trees to serve as windbreaks, hold moisture in the soil, and provide lumber for housing. To this end, he proposed that a specific day be set aside for the planting of trees. About how many trees were planted on the first Arbor Day? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joseph Pulitzer (1847)Born in Hungary, Pulitzer immigrated to the US during the Civil War and served in the Union Army. He later became a reporter and purchased and founded several newspapers, establishing the pattern of the modern newspaper by combining investigative reporting with publicity stunts, self-advertising, and sensationalism. In his will, he established the Pulitzer Prizes, annual awards for achievements in American journalism, letters, and music. What famous saying about journalism is attributed to him? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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castle in the air— A hope or wish, especially for one's life, that is unlikely to come true. A daydream. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Passover (2017)Passover is an eight-day celebration (seven days in Israel and by Reform Jews) of the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Jewish families today eat a ceremonial dinner called the Seder at which they retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt and eat various symbolic foods—including meat of the Paschal Lamb, bitter herbs and wine (symbolizing the fruitfulness of the earth). The matzoh (unleavened bread) is meant to symbolize the haste with which the Jews left. In strictly religious Jewish homes today, all foods made with leavening are prohibited during this season. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: markingpastry wheel, pastry jagger - A pastry wheel or pastry jagger is a handled tool with a thin sharp wheel, used for marking and cutting rolled-out dough. More... stocking - A white marking on the lower part of a horse's leg. More... on the dot - Probably a reference to the minute hand of the clock being exactly over the dot marking the given minute on the dial. More... hilum - The scar on a seed marking the point where it was attached to its seed vessel. More... | |