Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 1, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dramaturgy
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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NounsNouns are words that indicate a person, place, or thing. In a sentence, nouns can function as the subject or the object of a verb or preposition. Nouns can also follow linking verbs to rename or re-identify the subject of a sentence or clause. These are known as what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Clay AnimationClay animation is a form of stop-motion animation in which each frame of a film is created and photographed independently using clay figures molded into different positions for each frame. Clay animated films were made in the US as early as 1908 and became something of a fad in 1916, but they were soon overtaken by cartoons. Clay animation is a laborious process, requiring about 21,600 stops for a 30-minute film. How many frames per second are needed to create the illusion of continuous motion? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Minamata Disease Officially Discovered in Japan (1956)Minamata disease is a degenerative neurological disorder characterized by a loss of coordination and peripheral vision, poor articulation of speech, and numbness of the extremities. It was first encountered in 1956, when numerous cases of the then-unknown disease were observed in Minamata, Japan. Investigations showed that the consumption of seafood contaminated by a local chemical factory's mercury-laden wastewater caused the disorder. What brought more attention to the disease in 1965? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Woo (1946)Woo is a Chinese film director known for the balletic violence of his movies. His films belong to a genre originating in Hong Kong called "heroic bloodshed" and have inspired American filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino. Woo first gained international recognition with his 1989 Hong Kong thriller The Killer. During the 1990s, he became one of the first Asian directors to achieve mainstream success in Hollywood. He has since directed several American films, including what 1997 blockbuster? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Life wouldn't be worth living if I worried over the future as well as the present.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a sore loser— Someone who complains, becomes upset, or otherwise reacts very negatively when he or she fails or loses at something competitive. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 The Game of St. Evermaire (2022)The Spel van Sint Evermarus, or the Game of St. Evermaire, is a dramatic reenactment of the slaying of eight pilgrims in Rousson (Rutten), Belgium, on their way to the Holy Land in 699. This event is portrayed by the townspeople of Rousson each year on the first day of May in the meadow near the Chapel of St. Evermaire. Following a procession around the casket believed to contain the saint's bones, costumed villagers representing St. Evermaire and his companions are attacked by 50 "brigands" led by Hacco, the legendary assailant. By the end of the drama, the saint and the seven pilgrims lie dead. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: notchcrenelation, crenelle - A crenelation (from Latin crena, "notch") is a series of indentations or loopholes around the top of a castle, battlement, or wall—with each indentation being a crenelle (or crenel). More... carf, kerf - A cut or notch in timber is a carf or kerf—which are also used to describe the width of such a cut. More... dent - As in "notch," it comes from the French word for tooth; its original meaning was "blow, stroke" in general. More... score - First a notch used to keep count, as on a stick. More... | |