Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, July 7, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cultivator
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Quotation MarksQuotation marks are most commonly used to indicate the exact words that someone else said. This is known as direct speech or direct quotation. What are the two forms of quotation marks? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Black CatThroughout history, many cultures have held negative superstitions about black cats, often associating the animals with witches, the devil, and omens of evil. Though black cats are actually considered good luck in a minority of countries, superstitions about bad luck striking those who have had one cross their path widely persist today. Black cats have even been found to have lower odds of adoption in American shelters than felines of other colors. What color is even less likely to be adopted? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Samantha Smith Visits the Soviet Union (1983)In 1982, Samantha Smith, a 10-year-old American girl, wrote a letter to the newly elected leader of the USSR, Yuri Andropov, asking if he intended to start a war. Andropov replied personally. Expressing a desire for lasting peace with the US, he invited Smith to visit. The following July, she and her parents spent two weeks in the USSR amidst a media frenzy that hailed her as a goodwill ambassador. After her death in a plane crash two years later, she was honored by both nations in what ways? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gustav Mahler (1860)Mahler was an Austrian composer and conductor. After studying in Vienna, he conducted at numerous prominent opera houses where his high standards became legendary, but his refusal to compromise aroused intense personal opposition. He composed in his free time, mostly during the summer, and completed nine symphonies in his lifetime. The biggest success of his career—the 1910 premiere of his eighth symphony—was overshadowed by Mahler's discovery of his wife's affair with what famous architect? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It seems that a man is meant to live only one life in this world. When he tries to live a second, he develops another nature.Willa Cather (1873-1947) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hold the reins— To have or be in control, especially of a group, project, or situation. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Calgary Stampede (2020)The 10-day Calgary Stampede is Canada's largest rodeo event, offering a world-class rodeo competition in saddle bronc and bareback riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, and bull riding, as well as a chuck wagon race that carries a $175,000 prize. Most of the rodeo events are held in the 130-acre Stampede Park in downtown Calgary, but there's also a Wild West town called Weadickville (named for Guy Weadick, who founded the event in 1912), an Indian Village populated by representatives of five Indian tribes from the nearby Plains, a Frontier Casino, and agricultural and livestock exhibits. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: losingidiot strings - Refers to the strings that attach mittens to prevent a child from losing one. More... in hock - Can be traced to the card game faro, in which the last card in the box was called the hocketty card; when a player bet on a card that ended up in hock, he was at a disadvantage and was himself in hock and at risk of losing his bets. More... jeopardy - Comes from French ieu parti, "(evenly) divided game" (from Latin jocus partitus, "divided game"), referring originally to chess, in which the chances of winning and losing are balanced. More... pain - Originally meant punishment for a crime or offense—sometimes by losing one's head. More... | |