Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 8, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Conditional SentencesConditional sentences are in the conditional mood, which is used for hypothetical scenarios that are dependent on a certain condition or conditions. What are the four "degrees" of conditionals? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 MutationIn biology, a mutation is a sudden, random change in hereditary material, such as a gene, that can alter an inheritable characteristic. Most mutations are not beneficial, since any change in the delicate balance of an organism that is highly adapted to its environment tends to be disruptive. As the environment changes, however, mutations can prove advantageous and thus contribute to evolutionary change in a species. Mutations may be spontaneous or induced by outside factors, such as what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Female Cadet Graduates from The Citadel (1999)For more than 150 years, only male cadets were allowed to attend the Citadel, an elite military college in South Carolina. The first female cadet gained the right to enroll after a legal battle in 1995, but she left after less than a week. The following year, Nancy Mace, the daughter of US Army Brigadier General Emory Mace, enrolled. She went on to become the first female graduate of the Citadel in 1999. How did early female cadets' barrack doors differ from those of male cadets? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Harry S. Truman (1884)In 1945, when US president Franklin D. Roosevelt died—just 82 days into his fourth term—Truman, his vice president, assumed the office. Presiding over the end of World War II and the transition to peacetime, he made unexpectedly bold decisions. He dropped the first atomic bombs on Japan, proposed the "Truman Doctrine" of Communist containment, authorized the Berlin Airlift, and initiated US involvement in the Korean War. For most of his second term, Truman did not live in the White House. Why? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Heroes, notwithstanding the high ideas which, by the means of flatterers, they may entertain of themselves, or the world may conceive of them, have certainly more of mortal than divine about them.Henry Fielding (1707-1754) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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golden goose— A person, thing, or organization that is or has the potential to earn a lot of money for a long period of time. Taken from a folk tale of a goose that would lay a golden egg once a day, but was killed by its owner because he wanted all of its gold at once. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Store Bededag (2020)A public holiday in Denmark, Store Bededag is a nationwide day of prayer that has been observed since the 18th century. The eve of Common Prayer Day is announced by the ringing of church bells. In former times, it was customary for Copenhagen burghers to greet the spring by putting on new clothes and strolling around the city ramparts. Then they went home and ate varme hveder, a small square wheat bread. Today, people still dress in their spring finery and eat the traditional bread, but now they walk along the famous Langelinie, the boulevard that faces Copenhagen's waterfront. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wombgestation - Literally the period during which unborn young are "carried" inside the womb—from Latin gerere, "carry" or "conduct." More... lightening - A drop in the level of the womb during the last weeks of pregnancy, as the head of the fetus engages in the pelvis. More... matrix - From Latin, meaning "breeding female," it originally was used for the uterus or womb, then for a supporting or enclosing structure. More... | |