Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, June 24, 2020)Word of the Day | |||||||
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bespoke
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Gender in NounsThere are some instances in which nouns are declined to show masculine or feminine gender. How is a noun made feminine? More... |
Article of the Day | |
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![]() Tafl GamesTafl games were a family of popular board games that spread with the Vikings throughout northern Europe from about 400 CE and were widely played until the introduction of chess in the 12th century. Played on a checkered board, the games featured two uneven teams of pieces—a larger one that attacked and a smaller one that defended. The rules of these games, though largely lost, have been pieced together using literary sources from various historical periods. What was the objective of these games? More... |
This Day in History | |
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![]() Sally Ride Returns to Earth (1983)Before astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman to reach outer space, she made a name for herself as a nationally-ranked tennis player. After earning her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from Stanford University, she took part in her first space shuttle mission in 1983, serving on board the Challenger. She later served on the panels that investigated the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters. What two women preceded Ride in space? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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Jack Dempsey (1895)Born in Manassa, Colorado, Dempsey was an American boxer and world heavyweight champion. Nicknamed the "Manassa Mauler," he emerged from fights on saloon floors to seal his slugging reputation in his first title fight by knocking down the gigantic champion, Jess Willard, seven times in the first three minutes. He successfully defended his title five times before losing to Gene Tunney in an upset. What happened during the rematch, and why did it come to be called the "Long Count" bout? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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![]() E. M. Forster (1879-1970) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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throw a wobbly— To suddenly become very upset or intensely angry and make a big display of it. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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![]() Inti Raymi Fiesta (2022)The Inti Raymi Festival is an ancient Winter Solstice festival celebrated by the Incas in Peru on June 24. The original Inti Raymi involved animal sacrifices performed at the top of La Marca when the sun reached its zenith. Today the main celebration takes place in Cuzco, where there is a special procession and mock sacrifice to the sun, followed by a week-long celebration involving folkloric dances and regional arts and crafts displays. Bonfires are still lit in the Andes Mountains to celebrate the rebirth of the sun, and people burn their old clothes as a way of marking the end of the harvest cycle. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: stalkstipe - A stalk or stem of a seaweed, fungus, or fern frond. More... cranberry - First crane berry, so named because the plant grows on a stalk that looks like a crane's neck. More... spire - In Old English, it meant "stalk" or "stem." More... stalk - In a car, the flexible arm holding the mounting by which a seatbelt is secured. More... |