Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, May 18, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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drollery
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Factitive VerbsFactitive verbs are used to indicate the resulting condition or state of a person, place, or thing caused by the action of the verb. What is this resulting condition or state known as? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 ParasitoidsA parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant part of its life attached to or inside a single host, which it feeds on and ultimately kills. Parasitoid larvae are dependent on a host during development, but adult parasitoids are free-living insects. In a typical parasitic relationship, the parasite and host coexist without lethal damage to the host. However, in a parasitoid relationship, the host is killed, typically before it can produce offspring. What is a hyperparasite? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Ascent of Lhotse (1956)Reaching 27,890 ft (8,501 m), Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain on Earth. Tibetan for "south peak," it is located in the Himalayas on the Nepal-Tibet border and is connected to Mount Everest by a 25,000-ft (7,620-m) ridge. The first ascent of the mountain was made by Swiss climbers Fritz Luchsinger and Ernest Reiss in 1956. Thirty years later, what mountaineer summited Lhotse, becoming the first climber to have ascended all 14 mountains on Earth that peak more than 8,000 m above sea level? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Frank Russell Capra (1897)One of the preeminent Hollywood directors of the 1930s and 40s, Capra produced idealistic populist movies that celebrate the virtues of the common American. At age six, the Sicilian-born future director immigrated with his family to the US. After holding various jobs in the film industry, he emerged as a major director in 1928. Within years, he had won his first Oscar. Which of his films is now considered one of the best American films ever made—despite having initially been a box office flop? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the keys to the kingdom— A resource that will give the possessor access to the most complete or profound knowledge or power possible in a given area or pursuit. A reference to Matthew 16:19, when Jesus said to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Haiti Flag and University Day (2021)National unity is a primary theme of Flag and University Day in Haiti, an independence celebration and an occasion to recognize the country's educational system. Flag Day became an annual celebration shortly after Catherine Flon sewed the first red and blue flag in 1803, a year before Haiti won its independence from France. The government incorporated University Day as part of the celebration in 1919. Haitians wave flags throughout the day's parades and fairs, which take place throughout Haiti as well as in New York and Miami, two cities with large Haitian communities. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slaughterfatstock - Livestock fattened for slaughter. More... massacre - Comes from Latin mazacrium/masacrium, "slaughter." More... slaughter - From Old Norse, meaning "butcher's meat." More... homicide, murder, manslaughter - The general term for the killing of a person by another is homicide; murder is either the intentional killing or the malicious killing of another, while manslaughter is the unintentional, accidental killing of another through carelessness. More... | |