Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, April 2, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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appurtenance
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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The Anticipatory "It"There are a number of other situations where "it" can be used as a dummy pronoun, without pertaining to weather, distance, or time. What is the anticipatory "it"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Deadly NightshadeAlthough deadly nightshade, a perennial herbaceous plant that has bell-shaped flowers and shiny black berries, is related to potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants, it is one of the most toxic plants found in the Western Hemisphere. It contains alkaloids that can cause tachycardia, hallucinations, blurred vision, and, in extreme cases, death. Also known as belladonna, meaning "beautiful lady" in Italian, the plant was once used cosmetically by women to enhance the appearance of what feature? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 "Teflon Don" Hit with Charges that Finally Stick (1992)For years, John "the Teflon Don" Gotti, the dapper NYC boss of the Gambino crime family, got away with murder—literally. Criminal charges slid off him time after time thanks to his long reach, which extended to witnesses and jurors alike. But Gotti's "luck" ran out in 1992. After a nearly two-month trial, he was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The FBI had finally gotten its man. How had prosecutors managed to get the charges to stick? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Max Ernst (1891)Having served in World War I, German-born French painter and sculptor Max Ernst at first gravitated toward the Dada movement, but the former student of psychology and philosophy eventually became one of the founders of surrealism. Apart from the medium of collage, for which he is well known, Ernst developed other devices to express his fantastic vision, like frottage, in which a drawing tool is rubbed over paper laid on a textured surface, and grattage, a technique consisting of what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Wit is educated insolence.Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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not get a wink of sleep— To not get any sleep. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Pascua Florida Day (2022)Although no one knows for certain the date on which Ponce de León landed at Florida in 1513, it is widely believed that he first stepped ashore on April 2. He named the land Pascua Florida because it was Eastertime. Pascua is a Spanish word meaning "Easter," and Florida means "flowering" or "full of flowers." The Florida state legislature designated April 2 Florida State Day in 1953. The week ending on April 2 is known as Pascua Florida Week, a time when people are encouraged to attend special programs devoted to the area's discovery and history. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: lapis lazuliazure stone - Another name for the lapis lazuli. More... lapis lazuli - A sky-blue semiprecious stone, it is pronounced lap-us-LAY-zuh-lee. More... sapphire - From Greek sappheiros, "lapis lazuli" or "blue stone." More... ultramarine - First a blue pigment made from lapis lazuli, imported from Asia by sea, so, in Latin, it was ultramarinus, "beyond the seas." More... | |