Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, July 23, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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scathing
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Participle Phrases in Initial PositionWhere a participle phrase appears in a sentence changes the way we punctuate it, as does its importance to the meaning of the sentence as a whole. When a participle phrase occurs in the initial position, how is it usually separated from the rest of the sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Jade Burial SuitsConsidered a mere myth by archaeologists for years, the use of jade burial suits among wealthy Han Dynasty nobles was proved in 1968 with the discovery of two complete suits in tombs in China's northern province of Hebei. Belonging to Chinese prince Liu Sheng and his wife Dou Wan, the ceremonial burial suits were constructed using 2,498 plates of solid jade and 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) of gold wire. Experts now believe the practice was fairly common. What other wire materials were used? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The "Gimli Glider": Air Canada Flight Runs Out of Fuel Mid-Flight (1983)The "Gimli Glider" is the nickname given to Air Canada Flight 143, which ran out of fuel on a routine flight from Montreal to Edmonton in 1983. The crew was able to glide the aircraft safely to an emergency landing at a retired airstrip in Gimli, Manitoba, even through part of the runway had been converted into a racetrack and a large event was being held there at the time. Amazingly, no passengers or bystanders suffered any serious injuries. Why did the plane run out of fuel? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Judit Polgár (1976)Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and by far the strongest female chess player in history. A prodigy from an early age, she won many youth tournaments competing against boys. In 1991, at the age of 15, Polgár became the youngest grandmaster in history at the time, earning the distinction faster than Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. She later became the first woman to be ranked in the top ten in the world, ranking as high as eighth. What world champions has Polgár defeated? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 When you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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riffraff— Undesirable, disreputable, or vulgar people, often used in a condescending manner. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Osorezan Taisai (2017)Mt. Osore, located on the Shimokita Peninsula in the north of Honshu, Japan, is a spiritual center for many Japanese. It is known as a place where departed souls congregate. During the Osorezan Taisai Festival, or Osorezanrei Grand Festival, people flock to the mountain at Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture, where psychics endeavor to summon the spirits of the dead by chanting. The priests who cross the weathered slopes of the mountain in procession add to the festival's grim and ghostly atmosphere. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: seasoningaioli - French for ai, "garlic," and oli, "oil"—mayonnaise seasoned with garlic. More... drawn butter - Melted, clarified, and seasoned. More... herbes de Provence - A blend of herbs used for seasoning, such as basil, bay leaf, chervil, fennel, lavender, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, summer savory, tarragon, and thyme. More... herb, spice, seasoning - Herbs are, technically, plants with aerial parts used for seasoning foods, and a spice (also called seasoning) is any substance used for seasoning foods; many herbs are used as spices, but not all. More... | |