Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, April 12, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pasquinade
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Attributive AdjectivesAttributive adjectives are adjectives that describe a characteristic (or attribute) of the noun or pronoun that they modify. They form part of a noun phrase, appearing immediately before (or sometimes after) the noun in a sentence. Why are attributive adjectives usually considered in opposition to predicative adjectives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Mystery of Skeleton LakeAn uninhabited area located high in the Indian Himalayas, Roopkund is best known as the home of Skeleton Lake, where in 1942 a park ranger made a startling discovery—a mass grave containing the remains of some 300 to 600 people. Using radiocarbon dating, scientists traced the skeletons to the 9th century. Though people initially believed the dead were victims of landslides, an epidemic, or a blizzard, further examination of the skulls revealed that the people died in what unusual way? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Canter & Siegel Post the First Commercial Mass Usenet Spam (1994)Spam is now a ubiquitous part of the Internet, but that was not always the case. Early in the Internet age, two enterprising immigration lawyers—Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel—opened the floodgates of unwanted online commercial solicitation when they posted an ad for their services on thousands of Usenet newsgroups. Though not the first Usenet spam, the "Green Card Lottery" notice was the first to be commercial in nature and ushered in the modern era of Internet spam. What became of the duo? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550)A brilliantly gifted linguist and one of the most dashing figures of his time, Oxford was also reckless, hot-tempered, and disastrously spendthrift. He was the patron of an acting company and wrote highly praised poems and plays in his earlier years, though none of the plays are known to have survived. He is considered by some to be the true author of Shakespeare's plays, since his own literary output apparently ceased just before Shakespeare's began. Which of his writings have survived? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A fearful man is always hearing things.Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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liquid courage— slang The decrease in timidity or inhibition that comes from imbibing alcoholic beverages. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cosmonauts Day (2021)On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel in outer space. April 12 was declared Cosmonauts Day in Gagarin's honor. Official ceremonies on this day begin in the Moscow suburb of Korolyov, well known as the center of Russian rocket production, where officials and former cosmonauts lay flowers at a statue of Gagarin. The general public celebrates the day in a less formal manner: some place flowers at statues of Gagarin in various cities, while others attend space-themed art and film exhibitions. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: small roomaedicule - A small room or structure used as a shrine—or a niche for a statue. More... cove - Comes from Old English cofa, "small room," from the Germanic root kubon, and came to mean "small hollow place in coastal rocks," and then "small bay." More... cabinet - Originally meant a small room and came to apply to the group of politicians who met in the room. More... conclave - Based on Latin con- and clavis, "key," as it was first an inner chamber or private room to which one would have needed a key, literally a "place that can be locked up," or a room or set of rooms that can be opened with only one key. More... | |