Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, May 12, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pennant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ApostrophesAn apostrophe is a punctuation mark that primarily serves to indicate either grammatical possession or the contraction of two words. What is a proclitic? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Giant BeaverCastoroides ohioensis, the giant beaver, was a huge rodent species that lived in N America during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age, roughly 10,000 years ago. Fossils of the creature, first found in 1837, indicate that it could grow as large as 8.2 ft (2.5 m) long and weigh up to 220 lb (100 kg). While the teeth of modern beavers are suited for gnawing on wood, the giant beaver's teeth were bigger and broader. Did it construct lodges like modern beavers do? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 North American Aerospace Defense Command Founded (1958)North American Aerospace Defense Command, commonly abbreviated NORAD, is a bi-national command of the US and Canada that maintains the sovereignty of North American airspace by providing aerospace surveillance as well as warning and assessment of aerospace attacks. Headquartered deep inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, NORAD was formed in 1958 during the Cold War to provide security in the event of a Soviet nuclear attack. What false alarms have occurred since its inception? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Katharine Hepburn (1907)Hepburn made her Broadway debut in 1928 and became a star with her first film, A Bill of Divorcement, in 1932. She brought a spirited individuality and strength of character to the screen in her roles in films such as Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, and The African Queen. She made eight films with her longtime partner Spencer Tracy, eventually starring in 43 films. No actress has ever won more Academy Awards than Hepburn. How many did she win? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside of itself,—it only requires opportunity.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bear hug— A strong and often immobilizing type of embrace. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tam Kung Festival (2019)A celebration of the birthday of the god Tam Kung is held at the Tam Kung Temple in Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island. Like Tin Hau, Tam Kung is a popular deity among fisherfolk. He is a Taoist child-god, whose powers were apparent when he was only 12 years old. His greatest gift was controlling the weather, but he could also heal the sick and predict the future. Residents of the Shau Kei Wan area believe he saved many lives during an outbreak of cholera in 1967. His birthday is marked with a grand procession, Cantonese opera, and lion and dragon dances. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: trunkbillet - A civilian house where soldiers are lodged temporarily; a billet is also a thick piece of wood, from Latin billa/billus, "branch, trunk." More... trunk - As a box or chest, it was originally made from a tree trunk. More... bole - Another name for the trunk of a tree. More... stocky - A derivative of stock, which first meant "trunk, block of wood," in Old English. More... | |