Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, September 19, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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chasten
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Participle PhrasesParticiples are words formed from verbs that can function as adjectives, as gerunds, or to form the continuous and perfect tenses of verbs. What is a dangling modifier? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Green FlashA green flash is a refractive phenomenon in which the top edge of the setting—or, less frequently, rising—sun momentarily turns emerald green. It is usually seen over a low distant horizon, such as that of the ocean or a prairie, when the sky is clear. It occurs primarily because the atmosphere acts like a weak prism, refracting sunlight and separating it into different colors. The green color lasts from a fraction of a second to two seconds. What is a green rim and when can it be observed? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mexico City Earthquake (1985)At 7:18 AM, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Mexican state of Michoacán, releasing more than 1,000 times the energy of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Several hundred miles away in Mexico's capital, Mexico City, the devastation was catastrophic. Official estimates place the death toll at 10,000, but several times that number may have actually perished. Tens of thousands of others were hurt and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Why was Mexico City so hard hit? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Emil Zátopek (1922)Zátopek, the "Czech Locomotive," was a long-distance runner who won three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000-m and 10,000-m runs, and he amazingly earned gold yet again after deciding at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life. His wife, competing in the javelin toss, added a gold medal to the family collection at the same Olympics. Zátopek's success was likely due to his grueling training methods. What did he wear while training? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 As to people saying a few idle words about us, we must not mind that, any more than the old church-steeple minds the rooks cawing about it.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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manoeuvre the apostles— obsolete To borrow or take money from one person or source to repay the debt of another (i.e., rob Peter to pay Paul). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of San Gennaro (2021)San Gennaro, or St. Januarius, 4th-century bishop of Benevento, is the patron saint of Naples, Italy. He is said to have survived a fiery furnace and a den of wild beasts before being beheaded during the reign of Diocletian. His body was brought to Naples, along with a vial containing some of his blood. The congealed blood, preserved since that time in the Cathedral of San Gennaro, is claimed to liquefy on the anniversary of his death each year—an event that has drawn crowds to Naples since 1389. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: rubberawareness band, awareness bracelet - An awareness band or awareness bracelet is made of rubber or fabric on which a slogan is written, usually sold to raise awareness for charitable causes. More... Macintosh - A raincoat, named for Charles Macintosh (Scottish inventor, 1766-1843), who discovered how to waterproof fabric with rubber. More... rubber - In the sense of the latex of the rubber plant, it is so called because you can rub out pencil marks with it, not the other way around. More... amorphous - Something amorphous has no real shape or is irregularly shaped—like pudding; an amorphous solid lacks the perfect ordered structure of crystals. Other examples are glass, polymers, and rubber. More... | |