Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, July 5, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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elfin
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Order of AdjectivesIn English, the order of adjectives can sometimes be flexible, but most of the time we use a very specific order. To avoid unnatural-sounding sentences, what types of adjectives are used first? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Debt BondageDebt bondage is a means of paying off loans with direct labor instead of currency or goods. Bonded persons are not legally owned but are instead contractually bound to perform labor to work off a debt under terms that often make it impossible to completely retire the debt. Defined as a form of modern-day slavery by the UN and prohibited by international law, debt bondage nonetheless persists in many areas of the world. According to estimates, how many people are subjected to debt bondage today? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Battle of Wagram Begins (1809)The two-day Battle of Wagram signaled the end of the 1809 War of the Fifth Coalition between the kingdoms of Austria and France. Due to the battle's then-unprecedented use of artillery, both sides suffered tens of thousands of casualties. The Austrians were broken by the battle. Napoleon's victory forced Archduke Charles of Austria to accept unfavorable armistice conditions, stripping Austria of land and subjects. The battle might have ended differently if who had shown up in time? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 David Glasgow Farragut (1801)Adopted by a naval officer as a child, Farragut began his naval career as a midshipman at age nine. During the US Civil War, he ran his ships past Confederate forts to capture New Orleans. The victory earned him a prominent place in the Union navy. He was again promoted in 1864, after leading a successful assault on a heavily mined Confederate port. Famously, upon losing a ship during the attack, he allegedly cried out "Damn the torpedoes–full speed ahead!" What naval rank was created for him? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 My argument is that War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hold that thought— An expression used to interrupt someone mid-speech and indicate that one's attention is being or about to be diverted. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Beiteddine Festival (2020)The Beiteddine Festival, held in a magnificent 200-year-old palace in this town in the Chouf region of Lebanon, has presented world-class offerings in the arts since 1985. Organizers defied the struggles of Lebanon's civil war by staging this celebration of human culture. Many performers are Lebanese, but artists from around the world also are invited. The 2001 festival, for example, included a concert by Elton John, a production of Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris, and Turkish folk musician Kudsi Erguner, as well as a performance by the Lebanese singer Fairouz. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: strangerextranean - An outsider or stranger, a person not belonging to a household. More... barbarian - Based on Greek barbaros, "stranger" or "enemy." More... stranger - Originally a foreigner, from Old French estrangier, from Latin extraneus, "person outside." More... pilgrim - Its basic meaning was "traveler, homeless wanderer," from Latin peregrinum, "foreigner, stranger." More... | |