Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, September 11, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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emporium
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adjectives of OpinionAdjectives of opinion always come first before any other factual descriptions of the noun. There are two types of opinion adjectives. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Rhinoplasty, an Ancient Art?Commonly called a "nose job," rhinoplasty is surgery performed to improve either the function or appearance of a person's nose. Sushruta, an Indian physician, developed rhinoplasty around 500 BCE. It was a necessary procedure at the time, because nose amputation was used as a punishment for certain crimes. Some of the techniques Sushruta developed are still in use today. In 1887, the first intranasal rhinoplasty was performed in the West. In modern rhinoplasty, what does the acronym SIMON mean? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 9/11 Terrorist Attacks (2001)On September 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes. They crashed two planes into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City and flew a third into the Pentagon building in Virginia. Passengers on the fourth flight attempted to retake control of the aircraft, but it crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11 were responsible for 2,996 deaths and countless more injuries. What were the environmental consequences of 9/11? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Pierre de Ronsard (1524)Now considered one of the greatest French poets, Ronsard first served as a page and a squire and seemed destined for a career at court both in France and abroad. However, an illness left him partially deaf, and he turned to scholarship and literature. Named poet royal, the "prince of poets" wrote a great number of poems on many themes, especially patriotism, love, and death. He led a group of poets who cultivated the sonnet form and took the name of what earlier group of poets and tragedians? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nobody has any conscience about adding to the improbabilities of a marvelous tale.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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call it even— To acknowledge or consider a situation or exchange as being equal or equitable, as regarding debt, status, ability, a contest, etc. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Coptic New Year (Feast of El-Nayrouz) (2017)Members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the native Christian church in Egypt, celebrate the New Year on September 11 because it is the day on which the Dog Star, Sirius, rises in the Egyptian sky, announcing the flooding of the Nile and the new planting season. To commemorate the martyrs of the church, red vestments and altar clothes are used on this day. A food of special significance on this day is the red date: red recalls the martyrs' blood, the light-colored flesh of the date symbolizes their purity, and the stony pit symbolizes their steadfast faith. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: insultinsult - In medicine and science, it can mean "trauma, something that disturbs normal functions." More... political correctness - Can be an insult, accusation, joke, or the name of an effort to change a society by means of wide-ranging but often small-scale cultural reform. More... outrage - The true etymology of outrage has nothing to do with out or rage—rather, it is a borrowing from French outrage, "insult, outrage," based on Latin ultra, "beyond," and -agium, a noun suffix; outrage first meant "lack of moderation." More... umbrage - From Latin umbra, "shadow," in English it originally meant "shade, shadow," then shadowy suspicion, and then displeasure or resentment at a slight or insult. More... | |