Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, September 29, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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polarity
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Aspects of the Present TenseThe present tense is combined with four traditional aspects to form the structures that are known as the present simple, the present continuous (or present progressive), the present perfect, and the present perfect continuous. Although these structures are generally taught as individual "tenses" of verbs, what are they are actually? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Pollywogs and ShellbacksOriginally created as a test to ensure new sailors were capable of handling long, rough stretches at sea, the "Crossing the Line" ceremony is an initiation rite used by many navies to commemorate a sailor's first crossing of the equator. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed Shellbacks; those who have not are called Pollywogs. Many navies now have regulations to prevent hazing during the tradition, which often involves various physical tests. What is a Golden Shellback? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 CERN Is Founded (1954)Abbreviated as CERN after the original French name, the European Organization for Nuclear Research is the world's largest particle physics laboratory. CERN's activities are sponsored by 20 European countries. It was there that the World Wide Web—developed to promote scientific collaboration by facilitating information sharing—was invented in the 1990s. CERN's latest project, the Large Hadron Collider, is, among other things, being used to discover the hypothesized Higgs boson, which is what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 László Bíró (1899)Frustrated by the way his fountain pen's sharp tip would tear paper and by the amount of time he wasted filling the pen with ink and cleaning up smudges, László Bíró set to work developing a better pen. A Hungarian newspaper editor, he noticed that the ink used in newspaper printing dried quickly and without smudging, but it was too viscous for use with existing pens. With the help of his brother, a chemist, he developed the modern ballpoint pen. How long did it take him to build his pen? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I can resist everything except temptation.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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curb appeal— The external attractiveness of a building or property, such as can be viewed from the street (i.e., the curb). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Las Cantaderas (2019)The Fiesta de Las Cantaderas, held in the town of León, Spain, dates back to a time when parishes were required to contribute young girls as an annual tribute to the Moors. When the king of León finally freed the population of this burden, the girls sang and danced in the streets to celebrate. These days the cantaderas form a parade, starting at the town hall. They dance and sing their way down the street, directed by a woman called the sotadera. The girls bear fruit baskets or other offerings, which they later give to the bishop. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: silent | |