Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, April 30, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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sleight
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Noun ClausesA noun clause is a type of dependent clause that is able to function grammatically like a noun in a sentence. What words most commonly begin a noun clause? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Internet VigilantismIn 2008, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck China's Sichuan province, a Chinese girl posted a video of herself on the Internet complaining about the attention being paid to the victims. Incensed by her comments, some Internet users in turn posted personal information about the girl online. It is one of the more well-known cases of Internet vigilantism, in which Internet users try to punish certain behaviors or even catch criminals. What are some other notable cases? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Washington Becomes First Elected US President (1789)Washington, who served as commander-in-chief of the Continental army in the American Revolution, was elected the first President of the US after the adoption of the Constitution. His two-term administration was marked by the establishment of a number of key American institutions that continue to operate today. Because of his central role in the founding of the US, Washington is often called the "Father of His Country." What are five places or institutions that are named after him? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893)Ribbentrop was Nazi Germany's foreign minister from 1938 until 1945, during which time he helped negotiate the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939, which set the stage for Germany's attack on Poland that touched off World War II. He, like so many other Nazi officials, was an active participant in the "Final Solution" and various other atrocities and was one of the few who paid with his life at Nuremberg, where he was tried, convicted, and hanged for his war crimes. What were his last words? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Ah! how delicious it is to turn over and go to sleep again: "just for five minutes." Is there any human being, I wonder, besides the hero of a Sunday-school "tale for boys," who ever gets up willingly?Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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sleeping policeman— slang A bump, ramp, or hump in the road that is intended to cause cars to reduce their speed, especially in residential areas. Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Walpurgis Night (2022)People who lived in the Harz Mountains of Germany believed for many centuries that witches rode across the sky on the eve of St. Walpurga's Day to hold a coven on Brocken Mountain. To frighten them off, people rang church bells, banged pots and pans, and lit torches topped with hemlock, rosemary, and juniper. The legend of Walpurgis Night is still celebrated in Germany, Austria, and Scandinavia with bonfires and other festivities designed to welcome spring by warding off demons, disaster, and darkness. St. Walpurga is the patron saint associated with protection against magic. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: heardphoneme - A word for a hallucination in which voices are heard. More... pig's whisper - A loud whisper, meant to be heard. More... noises off - Sounds created offstage to be heard during a play's production; the term has been extended to mean distracting or intrusive background noise. More... pink noise - Random white noise that has been adjusted so there is equal energy per octave and an equal amount of each signal can be heard. More... | |