Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, May 12, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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refulgent
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ApostrophesAn apostrophe is a punctuation mark that primarily serves to indicate either grammatical possession or the contraction of two words. What is a proclitic? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The BurqaThe burqa is a loose, opaque, and all-enveloping outer garment worn by women in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India. Similar garments in the Middle East are known as the hijab or chador. The burqa covers the wearer's entire face except for a small region around the eyes. Because a full burqa conceals the entire body and includes a net panel that hides the wearer's eyes, some governments have passed legislation prohibiting it. In 2010, how much was a woman fined for wearing a burqa? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 North American Aerospace Defense Command Founded (1958)North American Aerospace Defense Command, commonly abbreviated NORAD, is a bi-national command of the US and Canada that maintains the sovereignty of North American airspace by providing aerospace surveillance as well as warning and assessment of aerospace attacks. Headquartered deep inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, NORAD was formed in 1958 during the Cold War to provide security in the event of a Soviet nuclear attack. What false alarms have occurred since its inception? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Katharine Hepburn (1907)Hepburn made her Broadway debut in 1928 and became a star with her first film, A Bill of Divorcement, in 1932. She brought a spirited individuality and strength of character to the screen in her roles in films such as Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, and The African Queen. She made eight films with her longtime partner Spencer Tracy, eventually starring in 43 films. No actress has ever won more Academy Awards than Hepburn. How many did she win? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 In diving to the bottom of pleasure we bring up more gravel than pearls.Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bear hug— A strong and often immobilizing type of embrace. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Boston Pops (2015)Henry Lee Higginson, who established the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881, believed that "concerts of a lighter kind of music" should be presented in the summer. People began to refer fondly to these summer concerts as "the Pops," a name which became official in 1900. The Boston Pops tailors its programs around American music and musicians, medleys of popular songs, and familiar movements of classical works. Outside of its official concert season at Symphony Hall, where it performs through May and June, the Pops also tours the United States. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: trunkbillet - A civilian house where soldiers are lodged temporarily; a billet is also a thick piece of wood, from Latin billa/billus, "branch, trunk." More... trunk - As a box or chest, it was originally made from a tree trunk. More... bole - Another name for the trunk of a tree. More... stocky - A derivative of stock, which first meant "trunk, block of wood," in Old English. More... | |