Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, June 14, 2025)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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glasshouse
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Future AspectAlthough English has no future tense in the strict sense, we commonly refer to several structures that are used for future meaning as belonging to the "future tense." What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Black ObeliskThe most complete Assyrian obelisk yet discovered, the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Neo-Assyrian bas-relief sculpture. Found in 1846 in what is now northern Iraq, the sculpture was originally erected as a public monument in 825 BCE, at a time of civil war. It features 20 reliefs depicting 5 kings bringing tribute and prostrating before the Assyrian king. The obelisk is particularly significant because it contains the earliest surviving image of a member of what kingdom? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Alcock and Brown Embark on First Nonstop Transatlantic Flight (1919)In 1918, the Daily Mail newspaper renewed its £10,000 prize for the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic. The next year, British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown claimed it after completing a treacherous 16-hour flight from Newfoundland to Ireland. Along the way, Brown had to repeatedly climb onto the wings of their biplane to remove ice, and snow filled the open cockpit. Upon reaching Ireland, they attempted to land in what they thought was a field, but it turned out to be what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Margaret Bourke-White (1904)One of the original staff photographers at Time, Life, and Fortune magazines, Bourke-White was noted for her coverage of World War II. The first woman photographer to serve with US armed forces, she photographed the liberation of Buchenwald and was the only foreign correspondent in Moscow during the German invasion. Her pictures of the rural American South and her portraits of world leaders are also celebrated. What actress portrayed her in the movie Gandhi? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One of the greatest and simplest tools for learning more and growing is doing more.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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great cry and little wool— A great deal of fuss, noise, fanfare, or protestation over something of little or no substance, importance, or relevance. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Rice-Planting Festival at Osaka (2025)There are many rituals associated with the growing of rice in Japanese farming communities. In many rural celebrations, young women in costume perform rituals including planting seedlings while singing rice-planting songs to the accompaniment of pipes and drums. On June 14 in Osaka, thousands congregate to observe a group of young kimono-clad women plant rice and sing in the sacred fields near the Sumiyoshi Shrine. Working rhythmically to the music, the young women appear to be participating in a dance rather than the hard work of planting. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: observercamera lucida - An optical device consisting of an attachment that enables an observer to view simultaneously the image and a drawing surface for sketching it. More... horoscope - Comes from Greek hora, "hour, time," and skopos, "observer." More... obverse - Its first meaning was "turned towards or facing the observer." More... zenith, nadir - Zenith derived from Arabic samt ar-ras, "the way or road above one's head"; zenith technically is the point directly above the observer and nadir is the point directly below. More... | |