Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 9, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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inexpugnable
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Viewpoint Adverbs to Specify an Aspect of SomethingWe use specific viewpoint adverbs to delimit, or specify, what part or aspect of something we are talking about. What are these adverbs often called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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_-_Clovis_roi_des_Francs_(465-511).jpg) Clovis ITraditionally regarded as the founder of the French monarchy, Clovis was born in the 5th century to a Frankish tribal leader. He became the sole ruler of the Salian Franks by force of perseverance—and by murdering a number of relatives. He defeated the last Roman ruler of Gaul, united the Frankish tribes to become ruler of their entire kingdom, made Paris his base of operations, and extended his realm into Germany. What experience supposedly influenced him to convert to Christianity? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Eradication of Smallpox Is Certified (1979)One of the deadliest diseases in history by sheer loss of life, smallpox was the target of a concerted, worldwide eradication campaign in the 20th century, and it became the first disease to have been successfully wiped out. Efforts focused on vaccination and quickly responding to and curtailing outbreaks. The last person to die from smallpox caught it at a laboratory, where samples of the now-vanquished disease remain. Who is the last person known to have contracted it in the wild? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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.jpg) Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717)The son of a German cobbler, Winckelmann overcame years of hardship to pursue his love of ancient Greek art, becoming a renowned scholar and one of the founders of scientific archaeology and art history. He spent much of his later life studying in the vast Vatican Library, and his writings reawakened the popular taste for Classical art and helped spur the Neoclassical movement. In 1768, a fellow traveler—who did not know who Winckelmann was—murdered him at a hotel, ostensibly for what reason? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Pyrrhus, when his friends congratulated to him his victory over the Romans under Fabricius, but with great slaughter of his own side, said to them again, "Yes; but if we have such another victory, we are undone."Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be the pits— To be particularly bad, unfortunate, or awful, especially of a situation or outcome. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Antigua National Heroes Day (2025)Antigua has four citizens who have been designated as National Heroes, and December 9 is a public holiday to honor and celebrate all of them. The date is the birthday of one of the four, Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, the first prime minister of Antigua, who is considered the father of the nation. The others are King Court, who led a slave revolt in 1736; Dame Ellen Georgian Nellie Robinson, a pioneer in education; and Sir Vivian Richards, one of the world's greatest cricket players. Speeches and ceremonies honor the accomplishments of the National Heroes on this day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: maintainedpetite maison - A love nest or a residence maintained for a mistress. More... standing army - A permanent army maintained in time of peace and war. More... parochial school - A school established and maintained by a religious body, from Latin parochialis, "of a parish." More... radio silence - A status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area stop transmitting (sometimes limited to certain frequency bands) for the period of time during which this status exists. More... | |