Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, July 13, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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singlet
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Present TenseThe present tense is mostly used to identify the action of a verb as taking place in the present time. What is the present perfect tense, and why is it so named? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 ConchsConchs are marine gastropod mollusks with heavy, spiral shells with overlapping whorls. Unlike other gastropods, which crawl, conchs move by jumping. Most conchs are carnivorous, feeding on bivalve mollusks. Their shells are used for carving cameos in Europe and are sometimes made into crude instruments by removing the small tip of the shell to form a mouthpiece. In popular folklore, it is believed that the ocean can be heard if one holds an open conch shell to the ear. How does it work? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 New York Draft Riots (1863)The New York Draft Riots, in which more than 100 civilians were killed, were the largest civil insurrection in US history after the Civil War. The rioters were mainly working-class men who were angry because, for a $300 fee, the wealthy could buy their way out of the Civil War draft. The rioters burned draft headquarters and other buildings. Mobs also attacked African Americans, whom they blamed for the war. The riots are portrayed in an alternate-history novel co-written by what politician? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Julius Caesar (100 BCE)Caesar, a Roman general and statesman, formed the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus. He later precipitated the Roman Civil War, defeating Pompey and becoming dictator for life. His dictatorial powers, however, inspired great resentment. He was in the midst of launching a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated on the Ides of March by conspirators led by Cassius and Brutus. His commentaries on what wars are considered classic military documents? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 She was no longer wrestling with the grief, but could sit down with it as a lasting companion and make it a sharer in her thoughts.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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adrenaline junkie— One who constantly seeks out the sudden increase of energy associated with dangerous activities, similar to the way drug addicts seek out the "high" achieved by drug use. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tribute of the Three Cows (2017)This event takes place on the Pierre St. Martin, in the Pyrenées Mountains between Spain and France, on July 13 every year. Representatives of the French valley of Barétous and those of the Spanish valley of Roncal meet at the summit at 10 o'clock in the morning and pile their hands on top of each other's in a show of friendship. Then the French hand over three cows, which must be healthy two-year-olds. This tribute was imposed by treaty in 1375, when the two valleys were at war with each other, and the Roncal cowmen emerged as the victors. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: oddsacross the board - An allusion to the board displaying the odds in a horse race. More... rubble - Comes from Anglo-Norman robel, "bits of broken stone," from earlier French robe, "loot, odds and ends stolen." More... ironic - Something is ironic if the result is the opposite of what was intended; an ironic event is an incongruous event, one at odds with what might have been expected. More... odds and ends - The first official odds and ends were found in lumberyards—odds were pieces of board split irregularly by the sawmill, ends were pieces trimmed from boards that were cut to specific lengths. More... | |