Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, August 12, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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imperceptible
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Making a Noun MasculineNouns that are, were, or can be distinguished between feminine and masculine genders are often masculine in their basic form. Masculine nouns tend to end in what two suffixes? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Robot CombatThough no longer the televised spectacle it was around the turn of the century, robot combat continues to be the focus of numerous tournaments in which two or more radio-controlled machines are pitted against one another and directed to destroy or disable their opponents. Such robots range from tiny "fleaweight" devices to sophisticated contraptions weighing more than 300 pounds and equipped with weapons such as rammers, flippers, and overhead axes. What weapons have been banned in competition? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Night of the Murdered Poets (1952)In one of the instances of violent anti-Semitism during Joseph Stalin's regime, 15 Soviet Jews linked to the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee were falsely accused of espionage, treason, and other crimes. After their arrests, they were tortured and isolated for three years before being formally charged. In 1952, 13 of them were executed in Moscow on a night remembered as the "Night of the Murdered Poets," named after five of the prisoners, who were Yiddish writers. Who were these poets? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876)Rinehart was a popular American author considered the inventor of the Had-I-But-Known school of mystery writing. Her immensely successful first novel, The Circular Staircase launched her career, and her books, which often blend mystery with humor and romance, have sold over 10 million copies. She was a war correspondent during WWI and wrote several books promoting women's contributions to the war effort. What popular phrase is said to have been inspired by her 1930 novel The Door? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One quality may be the contrary of another; thus justice is the contrary of injustice, whiteness of blackness, and so on.Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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good omen— A sign, either real or imagined, of good fortune or a propitious outcome. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Queen's Birthday (Thailand) (2019)The Queen's Birthday is a nationwide celebration in Thailand of the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit (b. 1932). Throughout the country, buildings are decorated to honor the queen, but the most splendid are in Bangkok, where buildings and streets are brilliant with colored lights. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hurtaposiopesis - Stopping in the middle of a statement upon realizing that someone's feelings are hurt or about to be hurt; when a sentence trails off or falls silent, that is an aposiopesis. More... innocent - From Latin in-, "free from," and nocere, "hurt, injure." More... innocuous - "Harmless, not hurtful," from Latin in-, "not," and nocere, "to hurt." More... collide - Its Latin base is laedere, "hurt by striking." More... | |