Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, April 17, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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quandary
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Conjugations of "Be"Linking verbs are used to describe the state of being of the subject of a clause. The verb "to be" is the most common linking verb. Unique among English verbs, "be" has eight different conjugations. Can you name them all? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 AmethystFebruary's birthstone, amethyst, is the violet or purple variety of quartz. The gemstone's name comes from the Greek amethustos, meaning not intoxicated, a reference to the ancient belief that the stone could ward off drunkenness. The ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethysts and made drinking vessels of them for this reason. The stone is associated with a number of other superstitions as well, being regarded as a love charm, a potent sleep aid, and what else? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Peace Treaty Ends 335 Years' War (1986)When hostilities between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago located off the southwest coast of England, ended, the warring parties recalled their troops, and the conflict was forgotten. Without a treaty declaring its end, however, the 1651 war peacefully became the world's longest, technically lasting 335 years. Despite questions regarding the validity of the declaration of war, peace was officially declared in 1986. What 45-minute war is considered the world's shortest? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nikita Khrushchev (1894)In the power struggle that followed Joseph Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev emerged as leader of the USSR. He became First Secretary of the Communist Party in 1953 and the Soviet premier five years later. He was highly critical of Stalin's rule and oversaw many reforms. Jovial in manner and often deliberately uncouth, he had a brash, extraverted style of diplomacy that became his trademark. Before his removal from office, the Communist Party accused him of mishandling what event in 1962? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Drink moderately, for drunkeness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a people person— Someone who is particularly gregarious, affable, or outgoing; someone with great interpersonal communication skills. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Syria National Day (2022)This national holiday commemorates the withdrawal of French troops on this day in 1946, when Syria proclaimed its independence after more than 20 years of French occupation. It is also known as Independence Day and Evacuation Day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: measuringcord - An amount of wood containing 128 cubic feet (4x4x8 feet); the name comes from the old practice of measuring a stack of firewood with a cord of a certain length. To cord is to stack or put up wood in cords. More... drosometer - An instrument for measuring the amount of dew on a surface. More... isometric - From Latin isus, "equal," and -metria, "measuring." More... Mach - The scale measuring the speed of an object or fluid relative to the speed of sound is named for philosopher/physicist Ernst Mach (1838-1916), who researched thermodynamics; Mach is the ratio of the speed of something to the speed of sound in the surrounding medium. More... | |