Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, August 11, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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ignoble
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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The Mixed ConditionalA very commonly used "fifth" conditional is what's known as the "mixed conditional," which is a cross between the third conditional and the second. What are the two ways to form a mixed conditional? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 UltrarunningCompleting a traditional marathon means running a staggering 26.2 mi (42 km), but each year, more than 70,000 runners worldwide tackle an even greater challenge—the ultramarathon. Ultramarathons are races that require competitors to run hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles, often while facing severe conditions like inclement weather, changes in elevation, or rugged terrain. Events can last mere hours or span several days. What extreme location hosts "The Last Desert," a 155.3 mi (250 km) race? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Weimar Constitution Signed into Law (1919)Written immediately after World War I, the Weimar Constitution was the document that governed the short-lived Weimar Republic of Germany. It declared the nation a federal republic governed by a president and parliament and was a strong attempt to establish a liberal democracy in Germany. However, it was adopted during a time of civil conflict and failed with the ascent of the Nazi Party in 1933. How did Hitler manage to subvert the Weimar Constitution after he came to power? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Christiaan Eijkman (1858)While seeking a bacterial cause for the nutritional disorder beriberi, Eijkman, a Dutch pathologist, noticed a resemblance between a nerve disorder in his laboratory chickens and the symptoms of beriberi. He traced the chickens' disorder to a change in their feed—it had been switched from brown to white rice—and surmised that white rice lacked a dietary component found in brown rice. This eventually led to the discovery of vitamins and earned him a 1929 Nobel Prize, which he shared with whom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 But there, everything has its drawbacks, as the man said when his mother-in-law died, and they came down upon him for the funeral expenses.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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funny feeling— An intuition or premonition about something; a sense of foreknowledge about a situation, condition, or set of circumstances. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Chad Independence Day (2019)On August 11, 1960, Chad became an independent country after struggling against the French since they first claimed Chad as a French territory in the 1890s. Celebrations of this national holiday—including parades, dancing, and singing—are often moved to January 11 because of the heavy rains in August. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slighthair-trigger - Its underlying meaning is something that may be triggered with the pressure of something as slight as a hair. More... legerdemain - "Slight of hand, conjuring tricks," from French, literally "light of hand." More... velleity - Describes a mild desire, wish, or urge that is too slight to lead to action. More... | |