Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, July 28, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
juxtaposition
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Transitive and Intransitive VerbsTransitive verbs take one or more objects in a sentence, while intransitive verbs take no objects in a sentence. What is a direct object? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Great Book of Saint CyprianPurported to have been taken from a manuscript written by early Christian martyr Saint Cyprian of Antioch, The Great Book of Saint Cyprian is an occult work that first appeared in 1849 and has since spawned several editions with varying titles. Written in Portuguese and Spanish, the book contains a mixture of Christian prayers and pagan spells, and many consider it a sin to possess or even touch it. Some even believe that reading the book from back to front will do what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 The Great Tangshan Earthquake (1976)In July 1976, Wang Chengmin of China's State Seismological Bureau concluded that the Tangshan region would be struck by a significant quake between July 22 and August 5. Based on the prediction, Qinglong County undertook serious emergency preparations, a move that likely limited the number of casualties there when a powerful temblor struck on July 28, destroying hundreds of thousands of buildings and killing as many as 700,000 across Tangshan. What were the political consequences of the quake? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Jacques Piccard (1922)Piccard was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer who developed underwater vehicles for studying ocean currents. He came from a family of adventurers, and his father was known for exploratory balloon flights. Together, they developed the bathyscaphe for deep-sea travel. In 1960, Piccard and Don Walsh of the US Navy set a new submarine depth record when they reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, a depth of about 35,800 feet (10,912 m). What cut the mission short? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 It ill becomes you to assail one who cannot defend himself.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
lose no time (in) doing (something)— To do something immediately or as expediently as possible. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Peru Independence Day (2021)Peru had been a colony of Spain for nearly 300 years when Simon Bolívar (1783-1830), along with José San Martín (1778-1850), led the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824 that resulted in the end of Spanish rule of Bolivia and Peru. San Martín had declared independence on July 28, 1821, but Peru's sovereignty was not secured until Bolívar's forces defeated the Spanish at Ayacucho. Celebrated all over Peru, Independence Day is a public holiday. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: mammalamniocentesis, amnion - Amniocentesis is formed by amnion, the innermost membrane enclosing a fetus, and Greek kentesis, "pricking." More... endoskeleton - Contained entirely within the body of an animal, like that of mammals. More... pelage - The fur, hair, wool, etc. of a mammal. More... rhinarium - The hairless, habitually moist nose of some mammals, such as the antelope. More... | |