Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, April 4, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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efface
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subjects and PredicatesSentences must always include both a subject and a predicate. The subject is the noun (a person, place, or thing) that performs, controls, or is responsible for the action of a verb. What is the predicate? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Beach Pneumatic TransitThe first to attempt to build an underground public transit system in New York City was undertaken by inventor Alfred Ely Beach in 1869. Though it was operational within a year, the Beach Pneumatic Transit Company's 312-ft- (95-m-) long pneumatic subway line beneath Broadway remained little more than a curiosity and soon closed. Now a popular element of urban legend and subway lore, the line has been referenced in several literary works. What 1989 movie incorporates Beach's subway into its plot? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 World Trade Center Opens in New York City (1973)With seven buildings and a shopping concourse, the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan was the largest commercial complex in the world before it was destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Its most prominent structures were the 110-story rectangular Twin Towers, which, at more than 1,360 ft (415 m) tall, were the tallest buildings in the world until the Sears Tower surpassed them in 1974. How did the construction of the complex lead to the expansion of the island of Manhattan? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 McKinley Morganfield, AKA Muddy Waters (1913)As a teenager in Mississippi, Waters played traditional country blues, but after settling in Chicago in the 1940s, he switched to a more urban style with amplified instruments. He soon became known for his driving slide guitar technique and darkly expressive vocal style. From the 1950s on, Waters recorded, toured, and played various music festivals. His electric blues influenced myriad musicians, including Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. What world-famous band took its name from one of his songs? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is a delicious thing to write, to be no longer yourself but to move in an entire universe of your own creating. Today, for instance, as man and woman, both lover and mistress, I rode in a forest on an autumn afternoon under the yellow leaves, and I was also the horses, the leaves, the wind, the words my people uttered, even the red sun that made them almost close their love-drowned eyes.Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have (something) in (one's) hands— To have under one's control, charge, or care; to have responsibility for something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Great Falls Ski Club Mannequin Jump (2020)In the zany sport of mannequin jumping, contestants build a mannequin—which could represent anything from SpongeBob SquarePants to a Ninja Turtle—and send it flying off a 15-foot ski jump. Hundreds of spectators come to watch the mannequins fly—and often self-destruct on the way down. The Great Falls Ski Club Mannequin Jump is held on the first Saturday in April at the Showdown Ski Area in Montana. In addition to the main event, the day's activities feature a wide variety of winter sports, including downhill skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: transfertranslate - Early on, it meant "transfer." More... emancipate - Derives from Latin e-, "out," and mancipare, "deliver as property; transfer, sell." More... metaphor - From Greek metapherein, "to transfer," as it is a word or phrase transferred from one context (meaning) to another. More... transistor - A blend of transfer and resistor. More... | |