Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, April 6, 2021)Word of the Day | |||||||
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runoff
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using "Can"The modal auxiliary verb "can" is used most often and most literally to express when a person or thing is physically, mentally, or functionally able to do something. What happens to "can" when it is used with "not" to become negative? More... |
Article of the Day | |
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![]() Knockout MiceBecause mice are so closely related to humans—relative to other common lab animals—they are particularly suited for investigations of human genetics. Researchers today rely heavily on "knockout mice," mice that have been bred with one or more genes intentionally switched off. Millions of these mice are used each year in studies of aging, cancer, obesity, and other conditions. So prized are they that some strains of knockout mice have even been patented. When was the first knockout mouse created? More... |
This Day in History | |
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![]() Hostess Twinkies Are Invented (1930)The Twinkie was invented by baker James Dewar, who noticed that the shop's shortcake pans were only used during the strawberry season and otherwise sat idle. His thrifty idea to use the pans during the off-season led to the development of the banana-filled Twinkie snack cake. During a World War II banana shortage, vanilla filling replaced the original banana. Twinkies disappeared from US shelves in 2012 when Hostess declared bankruptcy but returned in 2013. What is the "Twinkie defense"? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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![]() Bison Dele (1969)Dele was a professional basketball player who disappeared at sea in 2002 and is believed to have been killed by his brother. Three years earlier, at age 30 and arguably at the peak of his career, Dele opted out of a $36 million contract and retired from the National Basketball Association. In 2002, he set sail on the South Pacific Ocean with his girlfriend, the boat's captain, and his brother—the only one ever seen or heard from again. How did his brother draw further suspicion after his return? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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![]() Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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like (one's) life depends on it— With maximum, possibly desperate, effort or energy (i.e., as if one is at risk of losing one's life if one fails). More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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![]() Founding of the Church of Latter-Day Saints (2022)April 6, 1830, is the day on which Joseph Smith formally established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church) in Fayette, New York. Three years later, the anniversary of the Church's founding was celebrated for the first time. In 1837, a general conference was held to conduct church business and to observe the anniversary. Eventually, the idea of holding an annual conference became an established custom, and it was always scheduled to encompass the April 6 founding date. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tiredlanguescent - If you are becoming tired, you are languescent. More... irk - Originally meant "grow tired"; a possible source is Old Norse yrkja, "work." More... lassate - Means tired or weary. More... late - Comes from Indo-European lad-, "slow, weary," which begat Latin lassus, "tired," before English late, meaning "slow." More... |