Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 30, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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hullabaloo
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Concrete Countable NounsMany concrete nouns are countable, such as "cup," "dog," and "doctor." Each of these can be considered as an individual, separable item, which means that we are able to count them with numbers. We can also use them with indefinite articles. What are the two indefinite articles in English? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The He Shi BiThe He Shi Bi is a piece of jade that features prominently in Chinese history. According to legend, a man named Bian He found a large stone that he believed contained jade in the hills of Chu. He presented it to the king and later to his successor, but they disbelieved the man’s claims and had his legs cut off as punishment. Finally, he presented it to a third king, who recognized the stone’s potential and had it sculpted into an incomparable disk of jade. What was the disk made into in 221 BCE? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 WWI: Black Tom Explosion (1916)In the midst of WWI, German saboteurs demolished a US munitions stockpile in the Black Tom section of Jersey City, New Jersey. The series of massive explosions killed a few, injured hundreds, damaged all sorts of structures, including the Statue of Liberty, and was heard hundreds of miles away. Sued by the US government in 1922 but vindicated in 1930 by an international claims commission, the German government was ultimately ordered to pay $50 million in damages. When was the final payment made? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Emily Brontë (1818)Sister of writers Charlotte and Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë was an English author who is most famous for her novel Wuthering Heights, a highly imaginative story of passion and hatred set on the Yorkshire moors. Emily's unusual character and intellect seem to have been unrecognized by her family until quite late in her short life—she died at 30 of tuberculosis—but Charlotte was astonished by her poetry and regarded her work as unparalleled. Emily originally published under what pen name? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Backbite, v.t.: To speak of a man as you find him when he can't find you.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bald-faced lie— A blatantly obvious and/or impudent untruth, one in which the liar does not attempt to disguise their mendacity. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 National Balloon Classic (2019)The National Balloon Classic takes place from a launch field just outside Indianola, Iowa. When the event was first held in 1970, only 11 balloonists participated, but by 2001 there were close to 100 pilots and as many as 250,000 spectators. There are several flights or "tasks" involved in each race, designed to test the pilot's skill in handling their balloon. New tasks are added regularly to make the sport more demanding. As a result of the races, Indianola has come to be known as the Balloon Capital of the nation. The city is also the home of the National Balloon Museum. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: loosenlaxative - Can mean "having the power of relaxing" (from Latin laxare, "loosen"). More... loess - Loam composed of matter transported by wind, from German losz, "loosen." More... resolution - From Latin resolutio-/resolution, from resolvere, meaning "to loosen or dissolve again," which was the original meaning. More... solve - First meant "loosen"—from Latin solvere, "free, unfasten." More... | |