Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, September 24, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dilatory
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Correlative ConjunctionsCorrelative conjunctions, or paired conjunctions, are sets of conjunctions that are always used together. Like coordinating conjunctions, they join words, phrases, or independent clauses of similar or equal importance and structure. How do they differ from coordinating conjunctions? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Central AsiaAlthough the exact borders of the region known as Central Asia are debated, the nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are known as the Central Asian Republics—former republics of the Soviet Union. Sometimes said to include Afghanistan, Mongolia, and portions of China and Pakistan, the region has historically acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe and Eastern Asia, especially due to the Silk Road, which was what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Gertrude of Merania Killed by Discontented Hungarian Nobles (1213)The first wife of Andrew II of Hungary, Gertrude played an active role in the political machinations of his early reign. She used her influence to advance her German relatives at court and gifted Hungarian lands to them, angering the Hungarian nobility and inciting them to action. While her husband was off on a military campaign, Gertrude was murdered by a group of discontented nobles. The unsavory affair served as the inspiration for what Hungarian composer's famous opera, Bánk bán? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825)Born free in Baltimore, Maryland—where slavery was still in place—Harper was raised by an abolitionist uncle and published her first volume of poetry when she 20 years old. In 1854, she gave her first anti-slavery lecture. Her second volume, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, made her the best known African-American poet of the era. Her short story, "The Two Offers," was probably the first such published work by any African American. How old was she when she published her first novel? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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marry above (one's) station— To marry someone who is of a higher social class or standing than oneself. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Whole Enchilada Fiesta (2021)The Whole Enchilada Fiesta is marked by lots of red chili, lots of corn meal, lots of cheese, and lots of people. This festival in Las Cruces, New Mexico, draws about 100,000 people who scramble to get a taste of the world's biggest enchilada. It's 10 feet long and is made of 750 pounds of stone ground corn for the dough, 75 gallons of red chili sauce, and 175 pounds of cheese. The enchilada is prepared as the climactic Sunday afternoon event. Before this grand moment, there will have been a parade, street dances, arts and crafts exhibits, and a fun run. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: plasticaglet - The plastic or metal covering on the end of a shoelace (formerly called the point) that makes it easier to thread through the eyelet holes. More... plastic - From Greek plastos, "to form, mold." More... plastic surgery - Dates to 1837; "plastic" is used in the sense of "molding, shaping." More... velo binding - A type of document fastener using a narrow strip of plastic on the front and back and attached with thin plastic pegs through the pages; also called velobind. More... | |