Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, May 15, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pariah
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subordinating ConjunctionsSubordinating conjunctions are used to create complex sentences containing one independent clause, or main clause, and one dependent, or subordinate, clause. What two things does a subordinating conjunction do in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Scripps National Spelling BeeThe Scripps National Spelling Bee is a highly competitive annual spelling bee run on a non-profit basis by The E. W. Scripps Company, held at a hotel in the Washington, DC, area. The competition came into existence in 1925, and the first winning word was "gladiolus." The bee is open to the winners of sponsored regional spelling bees held mostly throughout the US, and participants must be in eighth grade or below, or 15 years old or younger. Why is it called a spelling "bee"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Department of Agriculture Is Created (1862)US President Abraham Lincoln created the Department of Agriculture, which he referred to as the "people's department," at a time when most Americans were farmers. It played a key role in the survival of many during the Depression, and today it continues to ensure that those in need receive food. It also aids farmers, inspects meat and dairy products, oversees food stamp and school lunch programs, and administers national forests. Before Lincoln, the Agricultural Division was part of what office? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 L. Frank Baum (1856)Baum was an American author of more than 70 children's books who is best known for penning The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He moved from New York to South Dakota in 1888. When his newspaper there failed, he moved to Illinois and found work as a journalist. His first children's book, Mother Goose in Prose (1897), was followed by Father Goose: His Book, an immediate bestseller. In 2006, Baum's descendants apologized for editorials in which he called for the extermination of whom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a gong show— A wild, chaotic, ridiculous, and/or disastrous event. Sometimes written as "gongshow." From the 1976–1978 television show The Gong Show, an amateur talent contest in which judges would end particularly bad acts by striking a giant gong. Primarily heard in Canada. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) Feast of San Isidro the Farmer (Madrid) (2018)The Feast of St. Isidore the Farmer is celebrated in Madrid, Spain, with eight days of bullfighting at the Plaza de Toros, colorful parades, and many artistic, cultural, and sporting events. Street vendors sell pictures of the saint, small glass or pottery bells believed to ward off harm from thunder and lightning, and whistle-stemmed glass roses, which provide a noisy accompaniment to the feasting and dancing that go on. The Festival of San Isidro is celebrated in other Spanish towns as well, particularly León and Alicante. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: problemslife coach - An advisor who helps people with problems, decisions, and goal attainment in daily life. More... empathy, sympathy - Empathy denotes a deep emotional understanding of another's feelings or problems, while sympathy is more general and can apply to small annoyances or setbacks. More... gravity - Comes from Latin gravitas, from gravis, "heavy, important"—and it can apply to situations and problems as well as to people. More... insoluble - Can be applied to problems that cannot be solved as well as substances that will not dissolve in liquids. More... | |