Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, February 3, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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relent
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Collective Adjectives and Verb TenseCollective adjectives are a subgroup of nominal adjectives, or adjectives that act as nouns. They are used to refer to a group of people based on a characteristic that they share. What verb forms do collective adjectives have to take? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Rescue of the Danish JewsDuring World War II, when Nazi authorities in Denmark ordered Danish Jews to be arrested and deported to Germany, many Danes and Swedes took part in a collective effort to evacuate approximately 8,000 of them to nearby Sweden. The improvised operation is considered one of the largest actions of collective resistance to repression in the countries occupied by Nazi Germany. As a result, most of Denmark's Jewish population survived the Holocaust. How were most Jews smuggled out of Denmark? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Australia's Last Execution (1967)In the 16 years leading up to the execution of Ronald Ryan for the killing of a guard during a prison break, every single death sentence in Victoria, Australia—35 in all—had been commuted to life in prison. By then, two Australian states had abolished capital punishment for murder, and many in Victoria were under the impression that it had done the same. The decision to carry out Ryan's execution was widely protested. How many of the jurors who had convicted Ryan later petitioned on his behalf? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Elizabeth Blackwell (1821)Blackwell chose to pursue a medical education at a time when doctors were almost exclusively male. Consequently, she was rejected by many medical schools before one in New York accepted her. In 1849, she became the first woman in the US to receive a medical degree, but her struggle did not end there. Barred from practice in most hospitals, she, her sister, and another female doctor founded their own practice and later a women's medical college. How did a joke gone wrong give Blackwell her start? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Among the sentiments of most powerful operation upon the human heart, and most highly honorable to the human character, are those of veneration for our forefathers, and of love for our posterity.John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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pay (one's) last respects— To show or express one's respect for someone who has died, especially by attending their funeral, wake, memorial service, etc. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Agatha Festival (2022)Sant' Agata (St. Agatha) is especially revered in Catania, Sicily, where her relics are preserved in a silver casket. On February 3, 4, and 5 each year, a silver bust of St. Agatha wearing a jewel-encrusted crown is carried in procession from the cathedral to Catania's various churches. Included in the procession are the ceri, huge wooden replicas of candlesticks that are carved with episodes from the saint's martyrdom. The streets are lined with streamers and flowers, and illuminated by strings of colored lights after dark. The festival ends with a fireworks display in the piazza. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: privatecloset - First denoted a private or small room. More... privilege - Derives from Latin privus, "private," and leg/lex, "law." More... privity - The state of being private or secret. More... secretary - Comes from Latin, meaning "confidential officer," and first denoted a person, such as a confidant, entrusted with private or secret matters; it should be pronounced SEK-ruh-tair-ee. More... | |