Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, June 20, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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macrocosm
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Grammatical PersonGrammatical person refers to the degree of involvement of a participant in an action, event, or circumstance. There are three degrees of grammatical person. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Rock ClimbingIn rock climbing, participants scale natural rock formations or artificial rock walls using ropes and special equipment—or, sometimes, just their hands and feet. Though humans have been rock climbing for millennia, the activity emerged as a sport in the 19th century. Aid climbing, in which artificial handholds and footholds are used, allowed climbers to reach heights that once seemed inaccessible. Today, the sport continues to evolve. What are some of the ethical considerations of rock climbing? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Queen Victoria Ascends British Throne (1837)Queen Victoria ruled the UK for more than 63 years, longer than any other British monarch. Her reign, known as the Victorian Era, coincided with the height of the Industrial Revolution and was marked by significant social, economic, and technological changes in the UK. Though the Irish Potato Famine adversely affected Victoria's popularity, she was mostly well liked. She was a carrier of the hereditary illness later dubbed the "royal disease." What is the disease called today? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, Mister Guitar (1924)Atkins got his first guitar by making a trade with his brother, and it was arguably the best deal he ever made. Although he struggled with shyness and suffered from severe asthma—he had to sleep sitting up and often fell asleep still holding his guitar—he became an accomplished guitarist and went on to release several hit records, develop a signature line of guitars, and help create country music's "Nashville sound." What did "Mr. Guitar," as he came to be known, trade to get that first guitar? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is when suffering finds a voice and sets our nerves quivering that this pity comes troubling us.H.G. Wells (1866-1946) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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get (one's) thinking cap on— To begin thinking or considering very carefully and seriously (about something), often to solve a problem. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 West Virginia Day (2022)West Virginia Day is a state holiday in West Virginia to celebrate its joining the Union in 1863 as the 35th state. The creation of the state was a result of the Civil War. The settlers of western Virginia defied the state's vote to secede from the Union, and on June 20 West Virginia formally entered the Union as an anti-slave state. The day is marked with ceremonies at the state capitol in Charleston and at the West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling. It was there that the conventions were held to declare West Virginia's independence from Virginia. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tapfaucet - Probably comes from French fausset, meaning "bore, tap." More... tattoo - In the military sense—of a signal summoning soldiers to their quarters at night—it was originally written tap-too, from a Dutch word taptoe, meaning "close the tap" (of a cask), which was told to soldiers when they were expected to return to their quarters. More... tick, tickle - Tick, as in "sound of a clock," "mark of correctness," originally meant "light touch, tap," and its modern senses are recent developments; tickle is probably a derivative of this version of tick. More... tit for tat - Probably borrowed from Dutch tip for tap, "blow for blow." More... | |