Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, April 9, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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tactile
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Focusing Adverbs that Add InformationFocusing adverbs are used to draw attention to a particular part of a clause. When we want to emphasize information that is being added to previous information, what three focusing adverbs can we use? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Kumbh MelaEvery 12 years, Hindu pilgrims gather at four sacred sites where, according to Hindu mythology, four drops of the nectar of immortality were accidentally spilled from a pot that the gods and demons were fighting over. During the festival, pilgrims ritually bathe in the river Ganges to wash away sins of their past lives and pray to escape the cycle of reincarnation. The Kumbh Mela is thought to be the largest periodic human gathering in the world. How many people attended the festival in 2001? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles Wed (2005)The 2005 wedding of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles capped off a decades-long romance that began in the 1970s, while both were single, and continued through both of their marriages—his to Diana Spencer, hers to Andrew Parker Bowles—as well as their respective divorces. The scandal of their affair tainted public perceptions of the pair and mired their union in controversy. When they finally wed, it was in a civil rather than religious ceremony. Why was the wedding postponed for one day? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Tom Lehrer (1928)Despite being a mathematician who led a long career in academia, Lehrer is best known for the few dozen humorous songs he wrote in the 1950s and 60s. He largely tried to dodge the limelight, but his satirical treatment of serious subjects nevertheless gained him a significant cult following and influenced later performers of parody, like "Weird Al" Yankovic. According to an urban legend—one denied by the man himself—Lehrer gave up political satire after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to whom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The philosopher is like a mountaineer who has with difficulty climbed a mountain for the sake of the sunrise, and arriving at the top finds only fog; whereupon he wanders down again.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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likely story— An exclamation of distrust or disbelief in someone's explanation or story. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bataan Day (2021)This is a national legal holiday in the Philippines, in commemoration of the disastrous World War II Battle of Bataan in 1942, in which the Philippines fell to the Japanese. It is also known as Araw ng Kagitingan, or Heroes Day. Also remembered on this date are the 37,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers who were captured, and the thousands who died during the infamous 70-mile "death march" from Mariveles to a Japanese concentration camp inland at San Fernando. Ceremonies are held at Mt. Samat Shrine, the site of side-by-side fighting by Filipino and American troops. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: napnap - A pretend hit or strike in a theatrical performance. More... teasel - A tool for raising the nap of something. More... crushed velvet - Has its nap pointing in different directions in irregular patches. More... nap - As in a short sleep, it comes from Old English hnappian, "to sleep lightly." More... | |