Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, February 6, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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midpoint
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Collective Nouns: Singular vs. Plural UseCollective nouns usually function as singular nouns in a sentence, but they are occasionally used as plurals, too. How do we determine in which manner the collective noun should be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Jehovah's WitnessesFamous for their door-to-door evangelizing, Jehovah's Witnesses are members of an international religious movement founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by Charles T. Russell in 1872. The group's beliefs are based primarily on the apocalyptic portions of the Bible, and their primary goal is the establishment of God's kingdom on Earth. Several of their beliefs are controversial; members refrain from performing military service or saluting the flag, and they refuse what type of medical procedure? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Munich Air Disaster (1958)In 1958, a British European Airways airliner carrying the Manchester United soccer team along with a number of staff members, supporters, and journalists crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Germany's Munich-Riem airport. Twenty-three of the 44 passengers on board died in the disaster. There was speculation that the club would have to fold, but the threadbare team completed the season, and a rebuilt Manchester United won the European cup in what year? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Beatrice Cenci (1577)Beatrice was a young Roman noblewoman whose execution for patricide aroused public sympathy and inspired various poems, novels, and dramas. Her father, Francesco, was a notoriously vicious and cruel man. After years of brutal treatment, Beatrice, her stepmother, brother, and stepbrother could take no more and had Francesco killed. Despite efforts by the people of Rome to obtain mercy for the conspirators, Pope Clement VIII was unyielding. What might have motivated him to uphold their sentences? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 "Always suspect everybody." That's the maxim to go through life with!Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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penguin suit— slang A man's formal evening wear, i.e., a tuxedo. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Waitangi Day (2022)A national public holiday in New Zealand, February 6 commemorates the signing of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, in which the Maori natives agreed to coexist peacefully with the European settlers. It was not observed as a public holiday outside the North Island until it became New Zealand Day in 1973. It was observed as such until 1976, when it again became known as Waitangi Day. Waitangi is located on the Bay of Islands at the northern end of the North Island, and the day on which the treaty was signed is observed there by the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Maoris each year. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: stretchingaforcing - The term for stretching the amount of a dish to accommodate more people. More... extend, extent - Are based on Latin pandere, "stretch." More... oscitancy, pandiculation - Oscitancy is the act of yawning; pandiculation is an all-over stretching and yawning, as upon waking, from Latin pandere. More... racking one's brain - Figuratively, it means stretching, and is derived from the Tower of London's torture method. More... | |