Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, May 25, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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floorwalker
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Auxiliary VerbsAuxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs) are verbs that add functional meaning to other "main" or "full" verbs in a clause. What are the three primary auxiliary verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Iris RecognitionIris recognition, not to be confused with retinal scanning, is a type of biometric authentication that uses pattern recognition techniques to analyze the irises of an individual's eyes. Iris recognition is rarely impeded by glasses or contact lenses and has a staggering accuracy rate when it comes to yielding unambiguous identifications. In fact, the eyes have been described as the ideal human body part for biometric identification. What advantages does iris recognition have over fingerprinting? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Six-Year-Old Etan Patz Abducted in New York (1979)In 1979, Etan Patz left his apartment by himself, for the very first time, to walk the two blocks to his school bus stop. He never made it there. His disappearance was widely covered by the media and led to the implementation of new methods for tracking down missing children, such as the milk carton campaigns of the 1980s. In 2010, the Manhattan district attorney announced that he had reopened the case into Patz's disappearance. Who was found liable for Patz's death in a civil case in 2004? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (1878)Robinson was an influential virtuoso tap dancer. An innovator, he was reputedly the first to dance on the balls of his feet instead of in the earlier flat-footed style. He began dancing professionally at the age of eight and became a popular nightclub and vaudeville performer. He first performed on Broadway in 1928 and was the first African American to star in a Ziegfield Follies. He appeared in 14 Hollywood features in the 1930s and 40s, including four that he made with which child actress? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Great minds have purposes; others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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God almighty!— An exclamation of surprise, shock, frustration, exasperation, anger, or annoyance. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Fiddler's Grove Ole Time Fiddlers and Bluegrass Festival (2019)A festival for genuinely old-time fiddlers, the Ole Time Fiddlers and Bluegrass Festival is held at Fiddler's Grove Campground in Union Grove, North Carolina. A special contest category is for fiddlers who must meet these criteria: they are over 55 years old, have had no formal musical training, and have learned from fiddlers older than themselves. There are competitions for all the major instruments of traditional American music, including autoharp, banjo, fiddle, harmonica, and mandolin, and workshops are conducted for shape-note singing, storytelling, and children's folk music. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sheetmap - Comes from Latin mappa mundi, "sheet of the world" from mappa, "napkin, tablecloth." More... ream - Used to be 480 sheets of paper and is now 500. More... bed clothes, night clothes - Bed clothes usually refers to blankets and sheets, while night clothes refers to pajamas and gowns. More... portfolio - Comes from Italian for "carry" and "sheets or leaves of paper." More... | |