Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, May 15, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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glower
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Semi-Modal Auxiliary VerbsSemi-modal auxiliary verbs, often simply called semi-modal verbs, are verbs that sometimes behave like modal auxiliary verbs. What four verbs are widely considered the standard set of semi-modal verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Public HouseA public house—or pub—is a centuries-old type of drinking establishment, so named because early English common law declared inns and taverns to be public houses obligated to receive travelers willing to pay for food, drink, and lodging. However, pubs did not cater exclusively to travelers. They also served as communal centers where locals could meet and gossip, and so became an enduring part of British culture. How did an 18th-century crackdown on alcohol consumption actually create more pubs? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Great Gold Robbery (1855)On the night of May 15, 1855, a shipment of gold bars and coins was sent from London to Paris, first via the South Eastern Railway and then on a ship across the English Channel. When the shipment arrived in Boulogne, France, the containers—all of which were locked and sealed—were found to be missing a large amount of the gold, worth about 12,000 British pounds at the time. The missing weight had been replaced with lead shot. A group of men was later arrested for the theft. How had they done it? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming (1857)Shortly after Fleming emigrated from Scotland to the US with her husband, their marriage failed. Forced to support herself, she worked as a housekeeper for the director of the Harvard College Observatory, who soon hired her to do clerical work at the observatory. She quickly rose through the ranks and went on to make significant contributions to the field of astronomy—classifying thousands of stars and discovering numerous variable stars and novae. At what age did her formal education end? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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intestinal fortitude— Strong courage, conviction, or determination; gumption; guts. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Race of the Ceri (2021)The Race of the Ceri (Candles) held in Gubbio, Umbria, Italy, every May 15 is thought by some to have originated in pre-Christian times because its date coincides with the Ides of May in the pagan calendar, but the better-founded explanation is that it commemorates the city's patron, St. Ubaldo Baldassini. The candles for which the event is named are heavy, tower-like structures reinforced with iron bands. These are taken in procession to the Piazza dei Consoli; then, upon a signal, the bearers run with the candles up to the top of Mount Ingino, where they are offered to St. Ubaldo. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: theatrebox office - An office in a theatre for booking seats, originally from "hiring a box." More... in the wings - An expression from the theatre, referring to the areas on the sides of the stage hidden from the audience. More... scenery, scenic - Scenery was originally theatrical—"a stage depiction of nature"—and it came to be applied to nature itself; scenic first pertained to the theatre and meant "dramatic, theatrical." More... | |