Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, May 5, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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absolutism
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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AdjunctsAdjuncts are parts of a sentence that are used to elaborate on or modify other words or phrases in a sentence. What are misplaced modifiers? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Dou Shou QiPopular with children, Dou Shou Qi, also known as Jungle Chess, is a traditional Chinese board game similar to chess and Stratego. Each player has eight pieces representing animals, including an elephant, lion, tiger, leopard, dog, wolf, cat, and rat. More powerful animals, such as the lion, can capture and eat weaker animals, such as the rat. The board itself is marked with traps, dens, and water areas, and some animals move across the board differently than others. How is the game won? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First American in Space (1961)In 1961, 23 days after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to be launched into space. Shepard's suborbital flight—part of the US space program Project Mercury—reached a height of 115 miles (185 km). He performed several maneuvers of his capsule, Freedom 7, but returned after only a 15-minute flight. Although Gagarin was the first human in space, Shepard was the first to return in what way? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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.png) Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (1747)The third son of Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, Leopold II succeeded his father as duke of Tuscany in 1765 and his brother as emperor and ruler of the Hapsburg lands in 1790. A practitioner of what has been termed enlightened despotism, Leopold is remembered as a ruler of outstanding diplomatic and administrative abilities. He was emperor for just two years, but in that time, he precipitated the decade-long French Revolutionary Wars by making an alliance with what power? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Oh, the nerves, the nerves; the mysteries of this machine called Man! Oh, the little that unhinges it: poor creatures that we are!Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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cast in concrete— Firmly or permanently established; not subject to change; unalterable. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cinco de Mayo (2021)Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May, is a national holiday in Mexico commemorating the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which Mexican troops under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the invading French forces of Napoleon III. The anniversary of this event is celebrated not only in Mexico but in many American communities with large Mexican-American populations—especially in the southwestern states of Texas, Arizona, and southern California. The events include parades, patriotic speeches, bullfights, barbecues, and beauty contests. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: vowdrawing the nail - Means absolving oneself of a vow. More... vum - To swear or vow. More... votal - Means "associated with or having the nature of a vow." More... vote - From Latin votum, "vow, wish," which was its original meaning in English. The word had a number of meanings—now obsolete—before it took on the sense (in the 15th century) of "a formal expression of one's opinion or approval or disapproval of a matter, especially a candidate, motion, or proposal." More... | |