Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, July 15, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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ridgepole
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Indicative MoodThe indicative mood is a type of grammatical mood used to express facts, statements, opinions, or questions. It is the sole realis mood in English. In which tenses can the indicative mood can be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 PareidoliaWhether it's a face on Mars or the Virgin Mary's image on a grilled-cheese sandwich, perception of the meaningful in the mundane is common. It is called pareidolia, the psychological phenomenon in which a vague and random stimulus, such as an image or sound, is perceived as significant. Common examples include images of animals in clouds, the man in the moon, and hidden messages on records played in reverse. What test uses pareidolia to attempt to gain insight into a person's mental state? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping (1976)Chowchilla is a small California town that made national headlines when kidnappers took control of a school bus full of children in 1976. The 26 children and their bus driver, Ed Ray, were driven around in two vans for 11 hours before being forced into a moving van buried in a quarry. After 16 hours underground, Ray and the children managed to escape. All were safely returned home, and the kidnappers were soon arrested. What technique helped Ray to recall the kidnappers' license plate number? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Dame Iris Murdoch (1919)An Irish-born novelist and philosopher, Murdoch studied at Cambridge under prominent philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein before pursuing a career in writing. Her novels focus on the idea that free will is illusory and depict humans as "accidental" creatures, seemingly free but actually bound to self, society, and the natural world. She penned 26 novels and many philosophical works before Alzheimer's ended her writing career. To what non-medical condition did she initially attribute her symptoms? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 When a man bleeds inwardly, it is a dangerous thing for himself; but when he laughs inwardly, it bodes no good to other people.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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look for a dog to kick— To seek out someone to blame or castigate, especially someone who is not at fault. (Usually said in the continuous tense.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Hakata Gion Yamagasa (2021)The Gion Matsuri at Kyoto is the model for several other Gion festivals in Japan, and the largest of these is the Gion Yamagasa Festival at Fukuoka. The elaborate floats for which the festival is famous are called yamagasa, and beautiful new dolls are made for them each year. The festival begins on July 1, when participants purify themselves by collecting sand from the seashore. The highlight of the festival occurs on the morning of July 15, when the Oiyama race is held. This is a five-kilometer race in which teams of 28 men run while carrying yamagasa, weighing about a ton. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tiedogfall - A draw or tie. More... dead heat - If two horses tied in a heat, the heat did not count and was called "dead"; now any tie can be called a dead heat. More... knit - Literally first meant "tie with or in a knot." More... moor - Meaning "tie up a boat," it was probably borrowed from German or Dutch. More... | |