Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, July 24, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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overwrought
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Interrogative SentencesAn interrogative sentence is simply a sentence that asks a question. Interrogative sentences always end with question marks. What are tag questions? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 TorcsA torc is a large, usually rigid, collar, necklace, or armband typically made of twisted metal. Its name, which means "to twist" in Latin, is derived from this design. A sign of nobility, torcs are made of bronze, gold, and other materials and were worn by cultures of the European Iron Age, such as the Scythians, Thracians, and Celts. Most torcs are open-ended at the front, although many seem to have been designed for near-permanent wear. What ancient sculpture features a figure wearing a torc? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mary Queen of Scots Is Deposed (1567)Mary Stuart was Queen of Scotland from 1542 to 1567. She was forced to abdicate the throne after her husband, Lord Darnley, was murdered and she was implicated in the plot. Mary then fled to England, where she faced a murder inquiry and became a prisoner of the English government. After conspiracies to put her on the throne of England were uncovered, she was tried for treason and ultimately beheaded. Some say her executioners asked for her forgiveness. What is she said to have replied? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Simón Bolívar (1783)Bolívar was a South American revolutionary leader whose actions earned him the title of "El Libertador." He defeated the Spanish in 1819, was made president of Greater Colombia—which comprised modern Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador—and helped liberate Peru and Bolivia. He declared himself dictator in hopes of unifying the region but was less successful at ruling countries than at liberating them, and he resigned in 1830, dying shortly thereafter. Why was Bolívar's body exhumed in 2010? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Clairvoyant, n.: A person, commonly a woman, who has the power of seeing that which is invisible to her patron, namely, that he is a blockhead.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the wee small hours (of the night/morning)— The very early hours after midnight. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Mormon Pioneer Day (2022)After their founder, Joseph Smith, was murdered in 1844, the Mormons moved westward from their settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois, under the leadership of Brigham Young. When Young surveyed the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, he proclaimed, "This is the right place." Thousands of Mormon pioneers followed him over the next two decades, many of them pushing their belongings in handcarts. The original 40-acre plot where the Mormons settled is the modern Salt Lake City, and the day on which Young chose the site is celebrated not only in Utah but in surrounding states with significant Mormon populations, such as Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, and California. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wakingexpergefacient, expergefaction, expergefactor - A synonym for awakening is expergefacient; expergefaction is waking up and an alarm clock is an expergefactor. More... dysania - The state of having a hard time waking up and getting out of bed in the morning. More... experrection - Waking up or awakening. More... hypnagogic jerks, hypnopompic jerks - Hypnagogic jerks are the spasms that happen right when you fall asleep; hypnopompic jerks happen right when you are waking up. More... | |