Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, March 11, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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louche
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Constructing Phrasal VerbsPhrasal verbs are made up of a verb + a preposition or an adverbial particle, and their meaning is uniquely tied to each particular combination. What is a particle? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Siloam InscriptionAround the 8th century BCE, King Hezekiah of Jerusalem became concerned that if the Assyrians laid siege to his city, they could cut off the Gihon Spring—a major source of fresh water—from outside the city walls. He ordered that the spring be redirected through a deep subterranean tunnel. The tunnel was discovered by an archaeologist in 1838, but it was a curious youth who found an inscription—one of the oldest examples of written Hebrew in existence—set into the tunnel wall. What does it say? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mikhail Gorbachev Becomes Leader of the Soviet Union (1985)In 1985, after the death of the third Soviet leader in two years, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, ushering in an era of political reform with his policies of glasnost and perestroika. He cultivated warmer relations with the US and others and even supported the democratically elected governments that replaced the communist regimes of eastern Europe. In 1991, he resigned the presidency of the USSR, which ceased to exist the same day. How did his own policies lead to the end of his administration? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (1915)In the 1950s, Licklider—who had studied math and physics and had a doctorate in psychology—began studying information technology. He was appointed head of information processing at ARPA, the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency, in the early 60s. There, he laid the groundwork for computer networking and ARPANET, the precursor of the Internet. He is considered one of the most important figures in computing history and is often compared to what historical trailblazer? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Without self-confidence we are as babes in the cradles. And how can we generate this imponderable quality, which is yet so invaluable, most quickly? By thinking that other people are inferior to oneself.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the march of time— The steady, unstoppable advancement of time. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 King's Birthday (Denmark) (2023)Though no longer observed, the birthday of Frederick IX of Denmark (1899-1972) was a national holiday in that country, marked by patriotic speeches and parades. Soldiers in uniform would march down the main street of Copenhagen, the capital, accompanied by military bands. This was also an occasion for singing Denmark's two national anthems, "Kong Kristian Stod Ved Hojen Mast" ("King Kristian Stood Beside the Lofty Mast") and "Der Er Et Yndigt Land" ("This Is a Lovely Land"). Frederick IX became king of Denmark in 1947 and ruled until his death in 1972. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: plasterdrywall, plasterboard - Drywall is a building material made of a sheet of plaster covered with heavy paper on both sides; it is also called plasterboard. More... gypsum - From Semitic, a relative or ancestor of Arabic jibs and Hebrew gephes, "plaster." More... plaster of Paris - So called because it is prepared from the gypsum of Paris, France. More... trullization - Laying on plaster with a trowel. More... | |