Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, November 15, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dramatist
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Constructing Conditional VerbsConditional verbs are constructions of verbs that are used in conditional sentences. Such verbs are typically formed when a clause in the sentence contains the word "if," and the action of the sentence depends on the condition established by this clause. What type of verb is often used to help indicate the tense and intention of the verbs in the conditional or resulting clause(s)? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Head and Shoulders Above the CrowdIn the Spanish region of Catalonia, one tradition stands above all others: the building of castells—human towers. Traditionally built during festivals, these multi-tiered structures can contain as many as 10 levels, each composed of people linked together in a circle. This dangerous activity requires teamwork and planning. A tower is only considered complete once the final casteller has climbed to the top and extended one hand with four fingers raised in a gesture symbolizing what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Cornerstone of Jefferson Memorial Is Laid (1939)The construction of the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, was authorized by Congress in 1934. In 1939, US President Franklin Roosevelt presided over a ceremony during which the cornerstone of the monument was laid. Completed and dedicated in 1943, the white marble building, designed by John Russell Pope, is a circular structure with a domed ceiling, surrounded by 26 columns. Inside is a bronze statue of Jefferson. Why was a temporary plaster statue initially erected there? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Felix Frankfurter (1882)Frankfurter was a US Supreme Court justice and presidential adviser. He served as secretary of war under President William H. Taft, advised President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt on many New Deal programs. In 1939, Roosevelt named him to the Supreme Court, where he served until 1962. In 1920, Frankfurter helped found the American Civil Liberties Union and argued in favor of what infamous pair of defendants? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Having learned the trick of beating and loving and suffering, the poor faithful heart persisted, although it lived on memories and carried on its sentimental operations mostly in secret.Kate Wiggin (1856-1923) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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Freudian slip— Any inadvertent verbal or written mistake that reveals, or can be construed as revealing, an unconscious or repressed intention, belief, thought, attitude, etc. Named for the Sigmund Freud, considered the founding father of psychoanalysis, whose work largely focused on the unconscious and repressed elements of the human psyche. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Leopold's Day (2019)St. Leopold (1073-1136), the patron saint of Austria, was buried in the abbey he had established in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria. His feast day is observed there with the ceremony known as Fasselrutschen, or the Slide of the Great Cask, in the abbey's wine cellar. Participants climb the narrow staircase that leads to the top of the cask and then slide down its smooth surface to a padded platform at its base. The faster the trip down, according to tradition, the better luck the person will have in the coming year. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slopeescarpment, scarp, palisade(s) - A cliff formation or line of cliffs can be called an escarpment, scarp (from Italian scarpa, "slope"), or palisade(s). More... scree - A mass of small loose stones that form or cover a slope on a mountain. More... katabatic - Skiing is a katabatic sport—moving down a slope or valley. More... | |