Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, January 31, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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shoestring
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Interrogative PronounsInterrogative pronouns are used in interrogative sentences to ask questions, functioning either as the subject or object of such sentences. Most often, interrogative pronouns are used in what type of questions? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 TessellationsTessellations are patterns of carefully juxtaposed, non-overlapping shapes—like the multicolored tiles of a mosaic—that fill a given surface. They have been used throughout history, from ancient architecture to modern art, and are frequently found in the works of M.C. Escher. Regular tessellations, which are highly symmetrical and made up of congruent, regular polygons, can only be formed using equilateral triangles, squares, or hexagons. Where can tessellations be observed in the natural world? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The North Sea Flood (1953)When heavy winds struck the North Sea during the high spring tide in 1953, it created a severe flood that affected parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK. Belgium suffered significant property damage but little loss of life. The Netherlands, on the other hand, had 1,836 reported deaths, and the UK had more than 500, with nearly half of the victims perishing at sea. The flood remains one of the UK's worst natural disasters. What has been done to prevent future disasters of this sort? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543)Along with Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa was one of the three unifiers of war-torn, premodern Japan. The three warriors established military control over the whole country and succeeded one another in the dictatorship. Tokugawa's time as shogun, or military dictator, ushered in a period of internal peace, urban growth, increased literacy, and resistance to Western influences. He died in 1616, but the Tokugawa shogunate did not die with him. For how long did his heirs rule Japan? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 They say that none of us exists, except in the imagination of his fellows, other than as an intangible, invisible mentality.Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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out of (one's) shell— Less shy, reserved, or reticent and in a more sociable, outgoing, or enthusiastic state. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nauru Independence Day (2022)This island in the Pacific Ocean gained independence from Great Britain on January 31, 1968. It had been governed by Australia. Independence Day is a national holiday in Nauru. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: subtlesubingression - A subtle or unseen entrance. More... ethereal - First meant "resembling the ether or lightest and most subtle of elements," and now means that something is impalpable or unearthly. More... hard sell, soft sell - Hard sell implies an aggressive approach toward a potential buyer; a soft sell is a more subtle, suggestive approach. More... subtle - Its ultimate source is Latin subtilis, "finely woven," a weaving term, from sub tela, "beneath the lengthwise threads of a loom." More... | |