Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, May 17, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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glasshouse
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Superlative AdjectivesSuperlative adjectives describe the attribute of a person or thing that is the highest (or lowest) in degree compared to the members of the noun’s group. What suffix is added to the end of an adjective to form a superlative adjective? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Cairo GangThe Cairo Gang was a group of British intelligence agents who were sent to Dublin during the Irish War of Independence to target prominent members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Numerous members of the Gang, along with several others, were assassinated by the IRA in a planned series of simultaneous early-morning strikes engineered by Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins. The assassinations, and the British reprisal, took place on November 21, 1920, known today as what day? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Brown v. Board of Education Decided (1954)In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas, by 13 African-American parents on behalf of their children. The plaintiffs argued that segregating schools along racial lines violated the students' 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law. The case was heard by the US Supreme Court, which unanimously agreed that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." What future Supreme Court judge represented the plaintiffs? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Edward Jenner (1749)Jenner, an English surgeon, discovered the smallpox vaccine and laid the foundations of modern immunology. Apprenticed to a surgeon at 13, Jenner then studied under John Hunter, a pioneer in morphology. Jenner found that people who had been sick with the relatively harmless disease cowpox did not contract smallpox. His invaluable experiments, beginning in 1796 with the vaccination of eight-year-old James Phipps, proved that cowpox provided immunity against smallpox. What killed Jenner in 1823? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Rings and other jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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go for a spin (to some place)— To go for a brief, leisurely drive (to some place). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Norway Constitution Day (Syttende Mai) (2022)May 17, 1814, marks both Norway's declaration of independence from Sweden and the day on which its constitution was signed. This day remains the great spring festival in Norway, and today it is celebrated primarily by young people. The children's procession in Oslo, the capital city, is the largest of many school parades throughout the country. Marching behind their school bands and banners, the children pass under the balcony of the Royal Palace in salute to the king. Everyone joins in the procession, waving Norwegian flags. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: listenear to the ground - It was early Native Americans who taught us to, literally, keep an ear to the ground to listen for horses' hooves as riders approached. More... scout - From the Latin ausculture, "to listen," it became Old French escoute, "a spy." More... hearken - To pay attention or listen; it can also mean "to return to a previous topic." More... listen, hear - To listen is to try to hear; to hear is simply to perceive with the ear. More... | |