Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, July 11, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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prorogue
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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PeriodsThe period (also known as a full stop, especially in British English) is a punctuation mark ( . ) primarily used to indicate the end of a sentence. When typing, how many spaces should be used after a period? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 HephaestionHephaestion was a Macedonian general who supervised the foundation of cities and colonies in Bactria, central Asia, and India. He was a close friend of Alexander the Great, who called him "my Patroclus"—in reference to the friend of the Greek hero Achilles. In 324 BCE, Hephaestion married Alexander's sister-in-law, Drypetis, but died suddenly in the same year at Ecbatana, the capital of ancient Media, in what is now northwestern Iran. How did Alexander mark Hephaestion's death? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 S.A. Andrée Attempts to Reach the North Pole by Balloon (1897)After gaining funding from the likes of King Oscar II and Alfred Nobel and generating widespread public interest, Swedish explorer Salomon August Andrée and two companions departed from Norway's Svalbard for the North Pole in a hydrogen balloon. They flew for two days before a hydrogen leak grounded the balloon, forcing the poorly equipped trio to travel on pack ice. Three months later, the men reached the island of Kvitøya, where they eventually died. When was their last camp finally found? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Elwyn Brooks "E. B." White (1899)After starting his writing career as a reporter, White settled in New York and became known for his impeccable prose style as a contributing editor of New Yorker magazine. Talented in diverse genres, he collaborated with James Thurber on satire, wrote the classic children's books Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web, and revised William Strunk Jr.'s grammar and composition text The Elements of Style, which became a definitive writing guide. How did White know Strunk? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 As the viper, though it kills with it, does not deserve to be blamed for the poison it carries, as it is a gift of nature, neither do I deserve reproach for being beautiful.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the unwashed masses— The broader general public, especially those of the lower and lower-middle classes. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Placidus Festival (2022)Sankt Placidusfest is a religious procession held on July 11 at Disentis, Switzerland, in honor of St. Placidus, who was murdered near the Benedictine abbey that he and St. Sigisbert helped establish there in 614. Every year, the relics of St. Placidus and St. Sigisbert are carried in a solemn procession from the abbey to the parish church and back through the village to the abbey. Traditionally, during the ceremonies, parishioners in colorful folk costumes chant the old, and very long, "Song of St. Placidus." More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: ranchbiscuit shooter - A waitress at a lunch counter or a cook on a ranch. More... dude, dude ranch - A dude is a city-dweller, especially one vacationing on a ranch—hence, dude ranch. More... ranch dressing - A creamy buttermilk-based dressing with garlic and other spices and herbs, developed at Hidden Valley Ranch in Santa Barbara in the 1950s. More... ranch - From Spanish rancho, "group of persons eating together." More... | |