Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, December 22, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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minibar
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Future Perfect Continuous TenseLike the future perfect tense, we use the future perfect continuous tense (also known as the "future perfect progressive tense") to indicate how long something has been happening once a future moment in time is reached. It can also be used in this way to indicate what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The AureusThe aureus, Latin for "golden," was a gold coin of ancient Rome. It initially consisted of about 8 grams of nearly pure gold and was valued at 25 silver denarii. It was regularly issued from the 1st century BCE to the beginning of the 4th century CE, when Constantine replaced it with the solidus to account for runaway inflation: in the 23 years between 301 CE and 324 CE, the relative value of the aureus jumped from about 833 to 4,350 denarii. By 356 CE, one solidus was worth how many denarii? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Berlin's Brandenburg Gate Reopens (1989)The only remaining town gate of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate was modeled after the propylaeum of the Athenian Acropolis. Originally topped with the "Quadriga of Victory," a statue of a chariot drawn by four horses, it was heavily damaged in World War II but was later restored. In 1961, the Berlin Wall blocked access to it for both eastern and western Germans, but it was reopened in 1989 with the reunification of East and West Berlin. The gate was the backdrop for what historic speeches? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887)Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician. Extremely poor, he was largely self-taught from age 15. In 1913, he began a correspondence with English mathematician Godfrey H. Hardy that took him to England, where he made advances, especially in the theory of numbers, the partition of numbers, and the theory of continued fractions. He died of tuberculosis at age 32, generally unknown but recognized by mathematicians as a phenomenal genius. What anecdote exists about Ramanujan and the number 1,729? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One's past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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go the way of the dinosaur(s)— To become extinct, obsolete, old-fashioned, or no longer in common use. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Capac Raymi (2019)The Capac Raymi was an Inca festival observed around the time of the December Solstice (the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere and the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere). The Inca Empire flourished in the Andean regions of South America, including Peru, Ecuador and the northern parts of Chile and Argentina during the 15th and 16th centuries, until the Spanish arrived in 1531. The Capac Raymi served as an initiation ceremony for the young men of the ruling class. When the solstice arrived, the boys' ears were pierced in order to insert the large ear spools worn by Inca royalty. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hosthost - One of its early senses was "army." More... harbinger - Originally, one who provided lodging or acted as a host. More... table d' hote, prix fixe - Table d' hote, literally "table of the host," is a complete meal with specified courses for a set price—and means the same as prix fixe. More... French leave - Comes from the French custom of leaving a ball or dinner without saying goodbye to the host or hostess. More... | |