Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, July 8, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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all-out
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ParenthesesParentheses are used to separate information that is not necessary to the structure or meaning of the surrounding text. When can parentheses be replaced by em dashes? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Dust ExplosionBecause of its relatively large surface area, dust is more flammable than solid objects. When high concentrations of very fine powders are suspended in air, they have a tendency to violently, unexpectedly combust, even in the absence of a flame. Materials that cause dust explosions include not only coal and sawdust but also flour, sugar, and even powdered milk. Deadly dust explosions have gutted mines and leveled silos and factories. What methods are used in industry to prevent dust explosions? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Air Force Claims to Have Recovered a Flying Disc (1947)On July 8, 1947, an officer at the Roswell Army Air Field in New Mexico announced the recovery of a crashed flying disc, prompting the Roswell Daily Record to proclaim the "capture" of a "flying saucer." The next day, the official story changed—the debris was now simply a weather balloon. The case was ignored until 1978 when supposed witness testimony emerged, shaping the event as an alien encounter. A government investigation discredited this theory, explaining the "aliens" as what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Käthe Kollwitz (1867)Kollwitz was a German Expressionist painter, sculptor, and printmaker whose work centered on human suffering. Her initial focus was the plight of the poor, whom she encountered firsthand at her physician husband's clinic in Berlin. After their son died in World War I, however, Kollwitz channeled her depression into a cycle of prints emphasizing a mother's love and a memorial sculpture of grieving parents. Unfortunately, many of Kollwitz's drawings and prints were lost in 1943 when what happened? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 My father must have had some elementary education, for he could read and write and keep accounts inaccurately.George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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long pig— obsolete Human flesh when eaten as food by cannibals. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 San Fermin Festival (2021)The festivities surrounding this well-known festival in Pamplona, Spain, honoring the city's bishop, begin with a rocket fired from the balcony of the town hall. Bands of txistularis—with dancers, drummers, and txistu players (a musical instrument like a flute)—march through the town playing songs announcing the "running of the bulls," an event that has taken place here for 400 years. Each morning, young men, dressed in typical Basque costumes, risk their lives running through the streets ahead of the bulls being run to the bullring where the bullfights will be held. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: noisycorroboree - A large, noisy gathering. More... crash - May have been created as an imitation of the sound of noisy breaking, or may be a blend of craze and dash. More... obstreperous - Meaning "clamorous, noisy" and "argumentative," it is from Latin ob-, "against," and strepere, "to make a noise." More... strepent, strepitent - Strepent and strepitent mean "noisy." More... | |