Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, September 30, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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brandish
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Examples of PrepositionsPrepositions are used to express the relationship of a noun or pronoun (or another grammatical element functioning as a noun) to the rest of the sentence. The noun or pronoun that is connected by the preposition is known as the "object of the preposition." What are some common prepositions? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Aztec CodicesAmong the best primary sources on Aztec culture, Aztec codices contain firsthand accounts of the civilization's history and religion. While the pre-Colombian codices are largely pictorial, later colonial era codices contain Aztec pictograms, as well as Aztec, Spanish, and occasionally Latin writings. Though there are few surviving pre-conquest codices, the tradition endured the transition to colonial culture, and about 500 such works survive today. What massacre is described in the Aubin Codex? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mozart's The Magic Flute Premieres (1791)In the final year of his life, prolific composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart produced the opera Die Zauberflöte—The Magic Flute—featuring a libretto by the actor Emmanuel Schikaneder. The work is considered a singspiel—an opera in German that contains spoken dialogue and is usually comic in tone. Mozart brought this form of light musical entertainment to a height of lyrical and symbolic art. The Magic Flute is said to contain what prominent Masonic elements and symbolism? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Hans Geiger (1882)After receiving a doctorate in physics in Germany in 1906, Geiger traveled to England, where he assisted chemist Ernest Rutherford. In 1908, they designed an instrument to detect and count alpha particles, positively charged ionizing particles produced by radioactive decay. He then returned to Germany, directing radiation research at several universities. Two decades later, Geiger developed the sensitive, portable radiation counter that now bears his name. Geiger was a member of what "club"? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The idea had got into his mind that he would some time die unexpectedly and always when he got into bed he thought of that...The effect in fact was quite a special thing and not easily explained. It made him more alive, there in bed, than at any other time.Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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cut it close— To do or complete something very near to its limit, especially of time. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Rosh Hashanah (2019)Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year and the first two of the 10 High Holy Days that conclude with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a time of prayer and penitence. The story of Abraham is read in the synagogue, and the blowing of the shofar ("ram's horn") serves as a reminder that although Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, God allowed him to sacrifice a ram instead. Jews celebrate the New Year by eating a special rounded loaf of challah, symbolic of the continuity of life, as well as apples dipped in honey, symbols of sweetness and health. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: imposedboycott, embargo - A boycott is an organized popular protest, named for Captain Charles C. Boycott (1832-97), a land agent in Ireland to whom this was done in 1880; an embargo is usually imposed by a government. More... silentium - A place where silence is imposed (library, religious retreat). More... Pax Romana - An uneasy peace, as one imposed by a powerful state on a weaker or vanquished state. More... mumbletypeg - The children's game was first mumble-the-peg, descriptive of one of the penalties imposed on the loser. More... | |