Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, August 6, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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banality
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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BracketsBrackets ( [ ] ), sometimes known as square brackets, are usually used within quoted speech to indicate that a writer has added material to the quotation. What are the different types of brackets? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 SupermaxSupermax prisons provide long-term, segregated housing for the most dangerous criminals. An early supermax-style prison unit opened in Australia in 1975 but was shuttered after just two years due to human rights concerns. Since then, the supermax model has been adopted by many corrections systems around the globe despite continued criticism. "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski and 9-11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui are among the most infamous US supermax inmates. What is everyday life like for them? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 End of the Holy Roman Empire: Francis II Abdicates (1806)Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, came to power just before the outbreak of war with Napoleon's France. His armies were defeated, and he ceded the left bank of the Rhine to France in exchange for Venetia and Dalmatia. In 1798, he joined the Second Coalition against France, but he was again defeated. He eventually consented to the virtual dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and assumed the title of emperor of Austria. Though he despised Napoleon, Francis allowed him to marry whom? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alexander Fleming (1881)Motivated by the devastating infections he saw in hospitals during World War I, Fleming, a Scottish bacteriologist, began searching for an effective antiseptic. In 1922, he discovered lysozyme, an antibacterial enzyme present in saliva and tears. In 1928, he isolated the substance penicillin, which became the first successful antibiotic for human bacterial infections. His work earned him a Nobel Prize and has forever changed modern medicine. In what accidental way did he discover penicillin? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One can sometimes do good by being the right person in the wrong place.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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without a care in the world— Having no concerns or worries. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of the Transfiguration (2022)As described in the first three Gospels, Jesus took his three closest disciples to a mountaintop to pray. While he was praying, his face shone like the sun and his garments became glistening white. Then a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from within the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." This feast is observed by Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Lutherans, and Anglicans. The mountaintop on which the Transfiguration took place is traditionally believed to be Mount Tabor, a few miles east of Nazareth in Galilee. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: weighdispense - Ultimately from Latin dispendere, "weigh out." More... expend - Comes from ex-, "out," and pendere, "weigh; pay"; originally, it referred to spending money, with the root sense being "to weigh out money." More... preponderate - Once meant "weigh more" and "have greater intellectual weight." More... spend - A blend of Latin pendere, "pay, weigh," and expendere, "pay out." More... | |