Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, June 7, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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piquant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Uncountable Nouns and PronounsJust as uncountable nouns cannot take the indefinite articles "a" or "an" because there is not "one" of them, it is equally incorrect to use third-person plural pronouns with them. Why? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Pool of SiloamIn the New Testament of the Bible, an account in the Gospel of John tells of how Jesus cured a blind man by covering his eyes with mud and then having him wash in the Pool of Siloam—the same pool mentioned multiple times in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. The rock-cut pool is believed to have been used as a ritual bath by ancient Jews near the Temple. In 2004, archaeologists in Jerusalem announced that they had discovered the pool during an unrelated excavation. Where was it found? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Supreme Court Decides Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)In 1961, Estelle Griswold, executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, opened a birth control clinic for women in deliberate defiance of an 1879 law outlawing the use or distribution of contraceptives. She was arrested and fined. Her appeal made it to the US Supreme Court, which stated in a landmark 1965 decision that married couples had a right to "marital privacy," which included the right to use birth control. When was the same right extended to unwed individuals? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George Szell (1897)Szell was a Hungarian-born conductor and pianist who immigrated to the US during WWII. Having already conducted many European orchestras, he soon became the principal conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1946, he took over the Cleveland Orchestra and, by means of his famously dictatorial approach, built it into one of the most respected ensembles in the world, famed for its precision. Nearly 20 years after Szell's death, who complained that he still got credit when the orchestra did well? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is just at the very age when a man's character is forming that he tumbles into love, and then the lass he loves has the making or marring of him. Unconsciously he molds himself to what she would have him, good or bad.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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money laundering— The criminal act or practice of processing large amounts of money obtained through illegitimate or illegal means, often in small increments through banks or other legitimate businesses, so as to conceal its source or origins. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Holland Festival (2025)Holland (the Netherlands) decided in 1947 to have a single festival focused on three major cities—Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague—that would cover a wide range of artistic and cultural activities and at the same time draw top international artists to the Netherlands. Nowadays the festival is centered in Amsterdam in June with nearly 150 programs. The festival offers not only performances of orchestral and choral works but opera, ballet, contemporary music, dance, theater, and film as well. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: shootingbiathlon - Consists of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. More... off-hand - Meaning "at once, straightway," it probably originally referred to shooting without a rest or support; as "unpremeditated," it is attested to 1719. More... potshot - Comes from shooting an animal purely for food (pot), rather than for simple conquest. More... scope - First meant "target for shooting," from Greek skopos, "target." More... | |