Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, October 18, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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seditious
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Abstract Countable NounsEven though abstract nouns, such as "emergency" and "conversation," are not tangible, many of them can still be counted as separable units. Like concrete nouns, they can take the indefinite articles "a" or "an." Can they be made plural? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The HittitesThe Hittites were an ancient Indo-European people who flourished from 1600 to 1200 BCE in what is today Turkey and Syria. They either displaced or absorbed the previous inhabitants of the region, the Hattians, whose culture had a strong influence on that of the Hittites. For several hundred years, the Hittite Empire was the chief cultural and political force in West Asia. The loose confederation of the empire was eventually broken up by invaders, and its remnants were conquered by whom? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Earthquake Destroys Basel, Switzerland (1356)Estimated to have been greater than 6.0 in magnitude, the Basel earthquake of 1356 may have been the most serious seismological event in the recorded history of central Europe. The main earthquake struck around 10 PM. In the Swiss city of Basel, all the major buildings—including castles and churches—were destroyed by the quake and subsequent fires. Three hundred people are thought to have been killed. The event was felt across Europe, including as far away as what locations? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jan Gies (1905)When the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands forced Otto Frank to resign from his own company because he was a Jew, his friend Jan Gies nominally took over. Soon after, the Franks and several friends went into hiding in a secret annex on the company's premises. For the next two years, Jan and his wife, Miep, sustained eight people in hiding, including Otto's daughter Anne, bringing them food and supplies until they were betrayed to the Nazis. How were the Nazis responsible for the Gies' marriage? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Rivalry adds so much to the charms of one's conquests.Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in plain view— In full, unrestricted view; visibly, openly, or publicly. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nagoya Festival (2020)An annual secular festival in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, the Nagoya Festival was started by the city's merchants in 1955 to give thanks for their prosperity. It features a parade of about 700 participants depicting historical figures in period costume, among them Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, the three feudal warlords who unified the country at the end of the 16th century. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sailscrab-skuit - A small, open fishing boat with sails. More... haul - Originally had the nautical meaning of "to trim the sails to sail closer to the wind." More... sail - Once meant specifically "to travel on a ship with sails," and, later, "to travel on any ship"; figuratively, it means "to go through effortlessly," as in, "to sail through the exam." More... three sheets to the wind - Pertains to chains that regulate the angle of sails; if the sheets were loose, the boat would become unstable and tipsy. More... | |