Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, September 5, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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diffidence
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Intensifiers vs. MitigatorsIntensifiers are the opposite of mitigators, which are used to decrease the intensity of the words they modify. What is the mitigator in the following sentence? "After eating dinner, everyone in the room was a little bit full." More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!L. Frank Baum was an American journalist, playwright, and author. In 1900, he published his most famous work, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a story about a girl named Dorothy who is carried by a tornado to the magical land of Oz. Baum's fame rests largely on his 14 stories of Oz, all of which emphasize the virtues of practicality, self-reliance, tolerance, and egalitarianism. In 1938, the story was made into an extraordinarily popular motion picture. Who played the role of Dorothy? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Treaty of Portsmouth Ends Russo-Japanese War (1905)The Russo-Japanese War—fought over territorial claims in East Asia—was a costly endeavor both monetarily and in terms of lives lost, and both sides soon realized the need for peace. With US President Theodore Roosevelt acting as a mediator, Russian and Japanese representatives met at a US naval base near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The resulting treaty marked the temporary decline of Russian power in East Asia and the emergence of Japan as a regional power. What territory did both agree to cede? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Arthur Koestler (1905)Born in Hungary, Koestler was an influential Communist journalist in Berlin in the 1930s. He was captured by fascist forces while on assignment during the Spanish Civil War and was later held in a concentration camp after the German invasion of France. In 1940, inspired by his break with Communism, he published his most important novel, Darkness at Noon, an examination of the moral dangers of totalitarianism. How did the terminally ill Koestler show his support for voluntary euthanasia? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 After all, one knows one's weak points so well, that it's rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them and invent others.Edith Wharton (1862-1937) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in a bad light— Negatively; under unfavorable circumstances. (Typically used with the verbs "see" or "show," or some similar variation.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Prudence Crandall Day (2020)The official celebration of Prudence Crandall Day in Canterbury, Connecticut, only dates back to 1987, but Crandall herself has been recognized for some time as a pioneer in the education of young African-American girls. Prudence Crandall Day events include craft demonstrations from the 1830s, period children's games, and at least one activity directly relating to Crandall herself. Most of the festival events are held at the Prudence Crandall Museum, located in the house where Crandall lived and taught. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: revolutiongyre - A circular movement or revolution; to cause to spin around or whirl. More... rebellion, revolution - Rebellion is open resistance to a government or authority; revolution is a rebellion that succeeds in overthrowing the government and establishing a new one. More... rev - An abbreviation of revolution. More... young Turk - Term for a tyrannical or unmanageable man, based on the members of a party of Turkish agitators that brought about the revolution of 1908. More... | |