Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, May 13, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Causative VerbsCausative verbs indicate that a person, place, or thing is causing an action or an event to happen. What are some examples of causative verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 PetrosomatoglyphsPetrosomatoglyphs are naturally-occurring or man-made representations of human or animal body parts that are found incised in rock. Footprints are the most common form of petrosomatoglyph. The ancient images, some of which date back to megalithic times, were once considered important symbols and were used in both religious and secular ceremonies. Throughout history, these imprints have been attributed to numerous figures, including the devil, Jesus, the prophet Mohammed, and what legendary king? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Children Report Visions of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal (1917)In 1917, three children were herding sheep in Fátima when, according to their story, the Virgin Mary appeared to them. They claimed that she continued to appear to them on the 13th of every month, relaying messages and prophesies. Word of the visions spread, and at one point, the children were arrested. Then, on October 13, thousands reported seeing the sun spin in the sky near Fátima, which became a pilgrimage site. Two of the children died before the age of 12. What happened to the third? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ole Worm (1588)Worm was a Danish physician and antiquarian who was the personal physician of King Christian IV of Denmark and served Copenhagen during plague epidemics. Worm's chief contributions to medical science were in embryology. As a natural philosopher, he assembled a vast collection of stuffed and mounted animals, fossils, and other curiosities. A collector of early Scandinavian literature and texts written in the runic alphabet, he wrote extensively on rune stones. What are the Wormian bones? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Belladonna, n.: In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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take a breather— To take a short pause or hiatus (from something). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Lemuralia (2022)In ancient Rome, the lemures were the ghosts of the family's dead, who were considered to be troublesome and therefore had to be exorcized on a regular basis. The Lemuralia, or Lemuria, was a yearly festival held on the 9th, 11th, and 13th of May to get rid of the lemures. Participants walked barefoot, cleansed their hands three times, and threw black beans behind them nine times to appease the spirits of the dead. On the third day of the festival, a merchants' festival was held to ensure a prosperous year for business. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: purposesall intents and purposes - A redundant phrase, created for emphasis. More... blamestorming - An intense discussion for the purposes of placing blame or assigning responsibility for a misdeed or failure. More... celebrant, celebrator, reveler - Celebrants take part in religious ceremonies; celebrators or revelers gather for purposes of revelry. More... teleology - The study of design in nature; the word's basic meaning is "the study of ends or purposes"—attempts to understand the purpose of a natural occurrence by looking at its results. More... | |