Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, January 31, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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equanimity
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Future Perfect TenseWe use the future perfect tense to say that something will finish or be completed at a specific point in the future. How else can the future perfect tense be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Astronomical TransitAn astronomical transit is the passage of a celestial body or satellite across the face of a relatively larger body. Transits are not the same thing as the familiar solar or lunar eclipse. In an eclipse, a large celestial body hides a major part of a smaller body. In an astronomical transit, a small body crosses in front of a larger one. An astronomical transit can involve two planets, but this has not been observed on Earth since 1818. When will the next planetary transit be visible from Earth? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Nauru, World's Smallest Island Nation, Gains Independence (1968)Annexed by Germany in 1888, controlled by Great Britain since World War I, occupied by Japan during World War II, and administered by Australia until the late 1960s, the tiny, phosphate-rich island of Nauru flourished in the years following its independence. However, after the island exhausted its primary phosphate reserves, living conditions deteriorated. Today, it has a 90 percent unemployment rate, and much of the island is uninhabitable. What percent of Nauruan citizens are obese? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 William Charles Lunalilo (1835)The shortest-reigning monarch in Hawaiian history, Lunalilo was unanimously elected by the legislature after the death of Kamehameha V, who had declined to name an heir. Just 13 months later, the similarly heirless Lunalilo died of alcoholism and tuberculosis. His goal of a more democratic Hawaii had earned him the nickname "the People's King," and he was buried in a common cemetery rather than in the royal mausoleum. What was his reward for having composed Hawaii's first national anthem? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Evil companions bring more hurt than profit.Aesop (620 BC-560 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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yardarm to yardarm— outdated Really close together. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) St. Paul Winter Carnival (2025)This 10-day winter festival was established in 1886 in response to a newspaper story that described St. Paul, Minnesota, as "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation." A group of local businessmen set out to publicize the area's winter attractions, and the first winter carnival featured an Ice Palace in St. Paul's Central Park. Since that time, an entire legend has developed about the founding of St. Paul and is reenacted each year. Other highlights include ice golf, skating, skiing, sled dog races, softball on ice, ice carving and snow sculpture contests, and a parade. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: remainbide one's time - Based on abide, meaning "remain" or "to wait awhile." More... marcescent - Describes leaves that wither but remain attached to the stem. More... mansion, mansionary - Mansion first meant the action of living or remaining in a place, from French manere, "remain," from Latin mansio, "staying"; mansionary is an adjective meaning "resident." More... stick-in-the-mud - Based on the notion of "to stick in the mud, to be content to remain in an abject condition." More... | |