Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, March 8, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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vertigo
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Participle Phrases in Middle PositionWhen a participle phrase occurs in the middle position, and is not essential to the meaning of the sentence, it should be set apart from the rest of the sentence by two commas. However, if a participle phrase occurs in the middle position and is essential to the meaning of the sentence, how should it be punctuated? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 ZouavesThe original Zouaves of the early 1800s were members of elite French military units in North Africa. Usually Algerian recruits, they were recognized for their distinctive, colorful uniforms and precision drilling. They were well known in their day, and at the dawn of the American Civil War, a Zouave craze swept the US. Dozens of "Zouave" units sprang up on both sides of the conflict. Their uniforms, modeled after traditional Zouave attire, were not well suited to the conflict. Why? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Nelson's Pillar Destroyed by Explosion in Dublin (1966)Built in 1808 and towering over the center of Dublin, Ireland, Nelson's Pillar was a massive monument to Horatio Nelson, Britain's most famous naval hero. It was controversial from the start. In 1966, Irish Republican Army members destroyed the pillar with a bomb. Irish Army engineers then removed the pillar's pedestal with a controlled explosion, which is said to have caused more damage than the original blast. The head of the statue was later stolen from storage. Where did it end up? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Konstantinos Karamanlis (1907)One of the most important political figures in the history of modern Greece, Karamanlis helped rebuild Greece's economy while serving in various posts after WWII. Chosen as prime minister in 1955, he formed a government and a new conservative party, the National Radical Union. In 1960, he established an independent republic on Cyprus to ease tensions with Britain and Turkey over the island. He resigned in 1963 and lived in exile in Paris until 1974. What finally brought him back to Greece? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There can be no two opinions as to what a highbrow is. He is the man or woman of thoroughbred intelligence who rides his mind at a gallop across country in pursuit of an idea.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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leave (something) out of account— To ignore something; to pay little or no heed to something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 International Women's Day (2021)This day commemorating women is one of the most widely observed holidays of recent origin. It has its roots in the March 8, 1857, revolt of women in New York City, protesting conditions in the textile and garment industries, although it wasn't proclaimed a holiday until 1910. In the former USSR, women received honors for distinguished service in industry, aviation, military service, and other fields. In the United Kingdom and the United States, International Women's Day is marked by special exhibitions, films, and more, in praise of women. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hospitalconservatory - Comes from an Italian word for a hospital for foundlings, to whom music was taught. More... ambulance - Once brought the hospital to the patient—and kept the name when it reversed the process and started bringing the patients to the hospital; its original meaning was "mobile hospital following an army." More... nosocomial - "Pertaining to a hospital" or "originating in a hospital." More... bedlam - The word bedlam is a contraction of Bethlehem, a hospital in London that became a lunatic asylum. More... | |