Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, January 2, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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enkindle
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Ending Exclamatory SentencesExclamation points are most often used in place of periods to end declarative sentences that express a very strong emotion, such as anger, excitement, surprise, or disgust. What are such sentences sometimes called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Fresnel LensA Fresnel lens is a thin optical lens that has the properties of much thicker and heavier lenses. It consists of concentric rings of segmental lenses that bend and magnify light rays, creating a single, concentrated beam of light. This design allows the lens to capture more oblique light from a light source than conventional lenses, making its beam visible across greater distances. The light from the first Fresnel lens, placed in a lighthouse in 1823, could be seen from how far away? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mercurius becomes Pope John II (533 CE)Though Catholics today are accustomed to the pope taking a new name once elected, Mercurius was the first to do so. As his birth name honored the pagan god Mercury, he chose to become John II upon elevation to the papacy. Though he died just two years later, he served at a time when sacred artifacts were regularly being sold and simony—the purchase or sale of church offices or preferment—was rampant in the selection of church officials. What other scandals did John face in his brief tenure? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898)Alexander came from a family of academic achievers—her father and uncle both graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, studying law and medicine respectively. Alexander also earned a degree from the school—becoming one of the first African-American women with a PhD in the US—and moved on to Penn's law school, where she was the first African-American woman graduate. She also served as the first national president of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In which subject was Alexander's PhD? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Folklore, legends, myths, and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous, and manifestly unreal.L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be not in Kansas anymore— To no longer be in a place that one knows or where one is comfortable; to be in a completely unfamiliar and/or discomfiting environment. A reference to The Wizard of Oz, in which Dorothy, upon arriving to Oz, says, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Berchtold's Day (2022)In Switzerland, the day after New Year's Day is known as Berchtoldstag and is celebrated primarily by children. Groups of playmates organize parties that feature nut eating and nut games followed by singing and folk dancing. A popular game is the building of "hocks" composed of four nuts placed close together with a fifth balanced on top. The children begin gathering and stockpiling nuts for Berchtold's Day festivities early in the fall. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: stuffingforcemeat, farce - A highly seasoned mixture containing chopped meat, forcemeat is an alteration of farcemeat, "stuffing," and has a synonym—farce. More... duxelles - A stuffing made from mushrooms, onions, shallots, and parsley, named after the Marquis d'Uxelles, a 17th-century French nobleman. More... excelsior - The curled shavings of soft wood used for packing and stuffing. More... | |