Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, May 19, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cowpuncher
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Major and Minor Sentences (Regular and Irregular Sentences)A major sentence is any complete sentence that contains an independent clause. Minor sentences do not have both a subject and a complete predicate. What are word sentences? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Mortarboard CapThe pileus quadratus, a type of Roman skullcap topped with a horizontal square board, has given rise to a number of similar cap styles, among them the biretta worn by the Roman Catholic clergy and the academic mortarboard cap. The academic headgear is embellished with a tassel or liripipe, which may be dyed black, colored to represent the graduate's area of expertise, or matched to a school's colors. According to urban legend, why did some UK universities cease to use the cap? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Nine-Year-Old Cynthia Ann Parker Kidnapped by Comanches (1836)Parker was a young girl when Comanches raided Fort Parker—located in what is now Texas—and massacred its inhabitants, capturing her in the process. Raised by her captors, she was adopted into the tribe and went on to bear the last great Comanche chief, Quanah Parker. At first, Quanah led raids on frontier settlements, but after his defeat and surrender, he learned to live alongside his white neighbors and eventually became the richest Native American in the US. What became of his mother? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Lorraine Hansberry (1930)At just 29 years of age, African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry secured her place in theatrical history when she became the first black woman to have a play produced on Broadway. Her acclaimed A Raisin in the Sun, a penetrating psychological study of a working-class African-American family in Chicago, was inspired in part by the discrimination and legal battle Hansberry's own family faced upon buying a home in a white Chicago neighborhood. Whose poem gave rise to the play's title? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Among all forms of mistake, prophecy is the most gratuitous.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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kick the tires— To inspect or test something or someone to ensure that he, she, or it meets the required or expected standard of quality. Primarily heard in US, Canada. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ho Chi Minh's Birthday (2021)Often referred to as the "father of modern Vietnam," Ho Chi Minh spearheaded the Vietnamese revolt against French and Japanese occupation. In 1954, after the French and Japanese left, the United States entered the scene, and it was during this struggle that Ho Chi Minh died in 1969. In 1975, North and South Vietnam united into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. On Ho Chi Minh's birthday each year, people hold parades in cities, carrying posters depicting him. Many women wear the áo dài, traditional Vietnamese dress. Speeches about Ho Chi Minh often follow the parades. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: officialbrevet - An official or authoritative message in writing. More... provost - Etymologically, an official "placed before" or "put in charge" of others, from Latin praepositus, "superintendent." More... bailiwick - Comes from bailie, "custody," and -wick, "function of an official" or "place of jurisdiction." More... probate - The official proving of a will, from Latin probatum, "thing proved." More... | |