Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, October 12, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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plethora
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Viewpoint AdverbsViewpoint adverbs are often confused with evaluative adverbs. Although they are similar in form, and the specific adverbs used can overlap, the two actually serve different functions. While evaluative adverbs are used to give an opinion, viewpoint adverbs are used to indicate what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 TektitesTektites are naturally occurring glass rocks that may have fallen from the sky. Normally jet black to olive green, the small, often aerodynamically shaped objects exist only in limited areas called strewn fields. Tektites are believed to have formed from droplets of molten rock, blasted into the atmosphere by meteorite or asteroid impacts, which then cooled and fell back to Earth. However, there are those who believe that they are in fact the result of meteorite impacts with what celestial body? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Oktoberfest Held in Munich, Germany (1810)The first Oktoberfest was held as a horse race celebrating the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Saxony-Hildburghausen. In the years that followed, the race was combined with the state agricultural fair, and food and drink were offered. Since that time the 16-day festival has become, above all else, a celebration of German beer, drawing more than five million attendees annually. How many millions of liters of beer did Oktoberfest attendees consume in 2007? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Edith Stein (1891)Born into an observant Jewish family, Stein converted to Christianity in 1922. After studying philosophy, she became a nun in 1934. She moved from Germany to the Netherlands to avoid Nazi persecution, but in 1942 she was arrested because of her Jewish heritage. She was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp and died in the gas chamber that year. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1998 and is also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. With what miracles is Stein credited? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Painting, n.: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hit a brick wall— To come up against an immovable or insurmountable difficulty or obstacle. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Equatorial Guinea Independence Day (2022)On this day in 1968, Equatorial Guinea became independent from Spain after being one of its colonies for nearly 300 years. On October 12—the same day on which Columbus Day is celebrated elsewhere in the world—Equatorial Guinea celebrates its autonomy with a national holiday. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: railwayMain Line - The principal line of a railway (1841), it also has the meaning "affluent area of residence" (1930s), originally that of Philadelphia, from the "main line" of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which added local stops to a string of backwater towns west of the city in late 19th century that helped turn them into fashionable suburbs. More... one-track mind - Is a reference to the railway. More... railway - The word was first recorded in 1776, but the first actual railway opened nearly 50 years later, in 1825. More... sidetrack - First used for a railway siding or a minor track or path. More... | |