Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, June 24, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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self-assured
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Imperative SentencesWe use imperative sentences to give orders, commands, and general instructions. Such sentences are said to be in the Imperative Mood. What happens to the subject in an imperative sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Cottingley FairiesIn the early 20th century, cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths created a series of photographs in which they were seen interacting with what appear to be fairies. The images provoked heated debate and even gained the attention of famed Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who championed their authenticity. Though the women initially claimed the fairies were real, they finally admitted otherwise in 1981. Even then, Griffiths insisted that one image was genuine. Which one? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 One of the First Major Outbreaks of St. John's Dance (1374)Germany was the site of one of the first outbreaks of dancing mania, a phenomenon seen primarily in mainland Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. During such outbreaks, groups of up to thousands of people would dance uncontrollably, screaming, shouting, and claiming to have visions until they collapsed from exhaustion. Initially considered a curse sent by a saint, usually St. John the Baptist, it was called "St. John's Dance." To what do researchers now attribute the strange behavior? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ernst Heinrich Weber (1795)Weber was a German physiologist who is known for his work on touch and for the formulation of Weber's law—which states that the increase in stimulus necessary to produce an increase in sensation is not fixed but depends on the strength of the preceding stimulus. Weber's law led to the discipline of psychophysics and serves as the basis of the scales used to measure the loudness of sounds. He is considered a founder of experimental psychology and is also known for what discoveries in anatomy? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Insensible as he is to a thousand wants, and removed from harassing cares, may not the savage be the happier man of the two?Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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not on my watch— That will not happen while I am in charge or on the lookout. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 San Juan Pueblo Feast Day (2019)San Juan Pueblo Feast Day is a day to honor St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of the San Juan Pueblo, near Española, New Mexico. The San Juan feast day observation combines Roman Catholic ritual with traditional Indian ceremonies. It begins with a mass, and is followed by an assortment of dances, which usually include Buffalo, Comanche, and Green Corn (harvest) dances. Men beat drums and chant as the dancers, arrayed in long lines and wearing body paint and elaborate costumes with feathers and beads, move slowly and rhythmically to the beat. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sailingaloof - Comes from sailing, in which ships keep clear of coastal rocks by holding the vessel "luff"—"to the windward"; so, to hold "a-luff" means to "keep clear." More... jibe - Meaning "be compatible, consistent," it may come from the earlier jibe, "to shift a sail from side to side while sailing in the wind." More... plain sailing - Probably comes from plane sailing, a way of determining a ship's position based on its moving on a plane (flat surface). More... aback - Originated in sailing, as a ship was taken aback when a strong gust of wind suddenly blew the sails back against the mast, causing the ship to stop momentarily. More... | |