Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, April 7, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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quondam
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Collective AdjectivesCollective adjectives are nominal adjectives (adjectives that act as nouns) used to refer to a group of people based on a characteristic that they share. What are some common collective adjectives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Water MemoryThe idea that water can retain a "memory" of a substance dissolved in it even after heavy dilution was proposed by French immunologist Jacques Benveniste to explain the alleged therapeutic powers of homeopathic remedies, which are prepared by serially diluting aqueous solutions to such a degree that even a single molecule of the original solute is unlikely to remain in each final preparation. He successfully tested his theory in 1988, but attempts to reproduce his results have failed. Why? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The World Health Organization Is Established (1948)World Health Day is observed every year on April 7 to mark the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO), a UN agency whose main objective is to promote "the highest possible level of health" in all people. Coordinating international efforts to prevent, control, and treat illness, it has worked to successfully eradicate smallpox and has made notable strides in checking polio, leprosy, cholera, and malaria. What steps has it taken to promote tobacco-free work environments? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Eleanora Fagan, AKA Billie Holiday (1915)Despite a deeply troubled upbringing, Holiday became one of the most celebrated and influential singers in jazz history. She was also one of its most tragic figures. She debuted in the 1930s and, after performing with Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Artie Shaw, embarked on a successful solo career. However, she suffered many personal setbacks, complicated by the drug addiction that eventually destroyed her career and hastened her death. How did she choose her stage name? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Clothes have more effect upon us than we imagine. Our deportment depends upon our dress.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have it large— To engage in or seek out pleasurable, hedonistic activities with great enthusiasm or intensity, especially dancing and drinking alcohol. Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Grand National (2018)The Grand National is the world-famous steeplechase run at the Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. It was started in 1839 by William Lynn, owner of the Waterloo Hotel in Liverpool, as a means of attracting hotel patrons. The course is four and one-half miles long and has 16 bush fences, of which 14 are jumped twice. The race is limited now to 40 starters; horses have to qualify by winning three other set races in England, although any horse that wins the Maryland Hunt Cup is automatically eligible to run. Only men could ride originally, but today women are eligible as well. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sedimentdecant - Means to pour wine, taking pains not to disturb any sediment at the bottom; decant comes from Latin de- and canthus, "angular lip of a jug." More... allogenic, allochthonous - Geological material that has been transported and then accumulates elsewhere is allochthonous, and sediment carried by a river is allogenic. More... lithification - The process of compaction of sediment into stone. More... | |