Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, June 21, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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confute
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Gerunds as Objects of VerbsGerunds very frequently function as the direct objects of "true" verbs. What type of verb is very likely to take a gerund as an object? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The DreamachineDeveloped in the early 1960s primarily by British artist Brion Gysin, the Dreamachine is a device designed to create visual hallucinations when viewed through closed eyelids. It is made of a light bulb suspended inside a perforated cylinder mounted on a record player. When it revolves, the light is said to flash at the same frequency as brain waves during relaxation, creating an intense visual experience while the viewer's eyes remain closed. Why is it dangerous for about one in 10,000 people? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 SpaceShipOne Completes First Privately Funded Human Spaceflight (2004)Unlike its privately funded predecessors, SpaceShipOne was actually manned, by a pilot and two passengers, when it flew to the edge of space in 2004. Developed by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and funded by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the suborbital space plane won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for launching three people—or their weight equivalent—into space twice within two weeks in a privately developed, reusable spacecraft. Where is SpaceShipOne currently on display? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905)Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, and novelist who became the foremost exponent of existentialism in the 20th century. His first novel, Nausea, was one of many works depicting man as a lonely being burdened with a terrifying freedom. He served in World War II, was taken prisoner, escaped, and was involved in the French resistance, during which he wrote multiple works. In 1964, he became the first person to voluntarily decline the Nobel Prize in Literature. Why did he refuse it? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Although the Devil be the father of lies, he seems, like other great inventors, to have lost much of his reputation by the continual improvements that have been made upon him.Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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living impaired— A jocular, pseudo-politically correct term for being dead. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) National Aboriginal Day (2021)Long before a national holiday was established, this day of the year had been observed by Canada's Inuit, Métis, and First Nations peoples as a celebration of Aboriginal heritage. In 1996, the Canadian government made June 21 an official holiday, including all citizens in the observance. Celebrations take place throughout Canada, and are organized by the regional offices of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Canadian Heritage. Some festivities are modest celebrations; others exhibit a stronger focus on culture and tradition by holding canoe races, powwows, and awareness events. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: proveprobe, prove, probable - Latin probare, "approve, prove, test," is the source of English probe and prove. From that came Latin probabilis, "provable," which became English probable. More... sooth, soothsayer, soothe - Sooth, "true, truth," or "that which is," is part of soothsayer; it is related to soothe, which once meant "assent to be true; say yes to," or "to prove or show a fact to be true." More... approve - Its original sense was "prove, demonstrate." More... rebut, refute - To rebut a statement is to offer clear evidence or a reasoned argument against it; to refute a statement is to prove it wrong (neither means "contradict" or "deny"). More... | |