Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 18, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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fecund
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Negative AdverbsNegative adverbs and negative adverbials are used to modify the meaning of a verb, adjective, other adverb, or entire clause in a negative way. What are double negatives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Towers of SilenceAccording to Zoroastrian tradition, a dead body is unclean and must be disposed of in a safe manner. To prevent the pollution of earth or fire, dead bodies are placed atop a tower, where they are exposed to the sun and birds of prey. The towers are circular raised structures with nearly flat roofs that are divided into three concentric rings; one ring is designated for the bodies of men, one for women, and one for children. Who coined the term "tower of silence"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mount Saint Helens Erupts (1980)Beginning in mid-March 1980, a series of earth tremors and steam explosions at Washington's Mount Saint Helens suggested that the volcano—dormant since 1857—was on the verge of erupting. Then, on May 18, the entire north side of the mountain exploded in a cloud of ash, rock, and fiery gases that collapsed a good part of it and carried debris for many miles. About 60 people were killed, and millions of tons of ash blanketed much of the American northwest. How far did the ash eventually spread? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Walter Adolph Gropius (1883)Gropius was the immensely influential director of the Bauhaus school of art and architecture in Germany. In 1937, he immigrated to America and became head of Harvard's architecture department. He was an early exponent of the International style and believed that all design—whether of a chair, a building, or a city—should focus on the particular needs and problems involved, without regard to old styles. His 1923 re-design of what everyday object is now considered an icon of 20th-century design? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is a melancholy truth that even great men have their poor relations.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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No good deed goes unpunished.— Due to the cruelty, ignorance, or selfishness of the world or others, one's good deeds or good intentions will often result in more trouble than they are worth. An ironic and sardonic twist on the more standard moral that "no good deed goes unrewarded." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Toshogu Haru-No-Taisai (2020)This festival provides the most spectacular display of ancient samurai costumes and weaponry in Japan. The Toshogu Shrine, in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, was built in 1617 to house the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), the first of the Tokugawa shoguns. On the first day of the festival, dignitaries and members of the Tokugawa family make offerings to the deities of the shrine, and warriors on horseback shoot at targets with bows and arrows. The next morning, more than 1,000 people take part in the procession from Toshogu to Futarasan Shrine, including hundreds of samurai warriors. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: prizeathlete - Derived from Greek athlon, "prize" or "contest"—which also gives us triathlon (etc.); it should be pronounced ATH-leet—with two syllables, not three. More... cakewalk - Started out as a competitive dance whose winner got a cake as a prize. More... premium - First meant "prize, reward." More... taking the cake - Once meant literally winning the prize of a cake, awarded in a cakewalk. More... | |