Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, July 3, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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apposite
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Past Simple TenseThe past simple tense (also called the simple past tense, or simply the past simple) is used to express completed actions. The past simple is often used with what other part of speech? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 HaruspicyHaruspicy is a method of divination that involves the examination of animal entrails, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry. A priest who practices this form of divination is known as a haruspex. The technique is thought to have originated in the Near East with the Hittites and Babylonians. It later spread with the Etruscans to the Roman Empire, where it became so popular that a college was opened to preserve the practice. What did haruspices believe the entrails could tell them? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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.jpg) Karl Benz Unveils His Patent Motorwagen (1886)Six months after applying for a patent for a three-wheeled horseless carriage driven by an internal combustion engine, Benz staged a public demonstration of the contraption in Mannheim, Germany. Widely regarded as the first automobile, the Benz Patent Motorwagen resembled a park bench on a giant tricycle and had a steering handle instead of the now-familiar wheel. It was only used for short jaunts until 1888, when Benz's wife took it for its first long-distance road trip. What was its top speed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (1908)Raised in California, Fisher moved to Dijon, France, after her first marriage. There, she was inspired by the gastronomist Brillat-Savarin, and her 1949 translation of his Physiology of Taste is considered a classic. She created a new literary genre with her culinary writing, producing witty essays evoking the pleasures of life and food in a graceful style. Her books include How to Cook a Wolf and The Gastronomical Me. Where did Fisher spend her last 20 years? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hold on to your hat— Get ready for what's coming or about to happen! More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Aston Magna Music Festival (2020)Held since the 1970s, this festival brings music of the Baroque period and beyond to today's audiences using historically accurate instruments and performance practices. The mission of this annual event in the Berkshires of Massachusetts is "to enrich the appreciation of music of the past and the understanding of the cultural, political, and social contexts in which it was composed and experienced." For five consecutive weekends, a 21st-century audience can enjoy a musical experience closely resembling that of an earlier era. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tennisdrop shot - In tennis, it is so called because after it is hit, it drops abruptly to the ground. More... cachpule - The ancestral name for tennis or a tennis court. More... service game - In tennis, a game in which a particular player serves. More... tennis - From French tenez, "take, receive," which was originally called out by the server to the opponent. More... | |