Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, January 5, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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indigen
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adverbial AdjunctsAdjuncts are usually adverbs or adverbial phrases that help modify and enrich the context of verbs in the sentence. What is the adverbial adjunct in the following sentence? "She walked to the park slowly." More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Trojan Room Coffee PotThe Trojan Room coffee pot, a coffee pot located in the so-called "Trojan Room" of Cambridge University's computer laboratory, inspired the development of world's first webcam in 1991. A camera aimed at the pot allowed people throughout the building—and eventually Internet users worldwide—to see a live image of the coffee pot on their computers and judge whether a trip to the coffee room would be worthwhile at any given moment. What happened to the pot after the webcam was switched off in 2001? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Great North American Ice Storm Strikes (1998)In just six days, the Great Ice Storm of 1998 devastated parts of eastern Canada and the US. Trees and electrical pylons collapsed under the weight of thick ice sheets, leaving millions without power for days—some for nearly a month. Major cities came to a standstill in a state of emergency, maple sugar and syrup businesses were devastated, and 16,000 Canadian Forces personnel were deployed—the largest Canadian deployment since the Korean War. What area was called the "triangle of darkness"? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alvin Ailey, Jr. (1931)American choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey, Jr., formed his own company, the American Dance Theater—now called the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater—in 1958. Multiracial since 1963, Ailey's dance company has been internationally acclaimed and has brought recognition to many African-American and Asian dancers. His works, influenced by jazz, Afro-Caribbean, and modern dance, explore a wide range of black experience, from gospel music to social inequality. What is his most popular work? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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odd duck— A rather unusual, strange, or peculiar person. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Befana Festival (2022)Sometimes referred to simply as La Befana, this is the Twelfth Night festival in Italy where the Befana, a kindly witch, plays much the same role that Santa Claus plays in the US. The festival begins on Epiphany Eve, when the Befana is supposed to come down the chimney on her broom to leave gifts in children's stockings. In Rome, the Piazza Navona is thronged with children and their parents, who shop for toys and exchange greetings. Bands of young people march around, blowing on cardboard trumpets, and the noise level in the square can be deafening. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: removalbeheadment - The removal of an initial letter of a word to form a new word (e.g. blather becomes lather). More... curtailment - The removal of the last letter of a word to leave another word (e.g. goon becomes goo). More... detail - Comes from French de-, "removal," and tailler, "cut in pieces," and means "to relate or describe minutely." More... water softening - The removal of calcium and magnesium ions from water, or their replacement with sodium, either by chemical reaction or by ion exchange. More... | |