Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, August 17, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pettifogger
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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AdverbsAn adverb refers to any element in a sentence used to modify a verb, adjective, another adverb, or even an entire clause. What is an adverbial? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The UkuleleThe ukulele is a Hawaiian musical instrument developed from the Portuguese guitar. It has a fretted fingerboard and four strings that are plucked or strummed. A similar instrument is the banjolele, which has a banjo body. The ukulele became popular in the US through a 1915 exposition held in San Francisco, at which the Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble. Vaudeville performers took it up, and its popularity spread. "Ukulele" is Hawaiian for what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Double Eagle II Becomes First Balloon to Cross the Atlantic (1978)By 1978, there had been at least 14 failed attempts to cross the Atlantic by balloon, during which five people died. One of the failures was that of the Double Eagle I in 1977. A year later, however, Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman landed the Double Eagle II in a field in Miserey, France, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine. After their successful flight, the trio drew straws to determine who would get to sleep in a bed at the US Embassy once slept in by whom? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Marcus Garvey (1887)Garvey was a Jamaican-born American proponent of black nationalism. His Universal Negro Improvement Association, established in 1914 to promote racial pride, quickly spread in black communities throughout the US, the Caribbean, and Central America, and Garvey became the most influential black leader of the early 1920s, with a following some two million strong. However, his movement foundered after his 1922 indictment for mail fraud. What religious movement considers Garvey one of its prophets? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Liberty, as well as honor, man ought to preserve at the hazard of his life, for without it life is insupportable.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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lust for power— Intense, insatiable desire to attain power and control. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Indonesia Independence Day (2021)Indonesia had been a Dutch colony for 300 years when a group of revolutionaries declared independence on August 17, 1945. Indonesians endured four more years of struggle before their independence was formally granted by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. This national holiday is celebrated throughout Indonesia with parades, athletic events, and a multitude of cultural and performing arts festivals. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sickanointing of the sick - The Catholic sacrament in which a priest anoints a dying person with oil and prays for salvation. More... decumbiture - The act of going to bed when sick. More... ill - Originally meant not "sick" but "bad," and was borrowed from Old Norse illr; the sense of "sick" arrived in the 15th century. More... nauseous, nauseated - Nauseous ("sickening") is an adjective describing something that causes nausea; the adjective for the feeling ("made sick") is nauseated. More... | |