Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 10, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Acronyms and InitialismsAcronyms and initialisms are abbreviations of multiple words using just their initial letters. How are they distinguished from each other? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Mad as a March Hare"Mad as a March hare" is an idiomatic phrase derived from the excitable and unpredictable antics of hares during their breeding season, often incorrectly believed to occur only in March. Though the phrase has been in continuous use since the 16th century, it was popularized by Lewis Carroll in his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in which the March Hare co-hosts a tea party with the Mad Hatter. What are some of the strange behaviors displayed by hares during mating season? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Rubens's Massacre of the Innocents Sells for £49.5 million (2002)Misattributed to an assistant of Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens until 2002, when an expert from Sotheby's auction house identified it as the work of the master himself, Massacre of the Innocents is an early 17th-century painting depicting Herod's slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem. One of two paintings Rubens made of the Biblical scene, it fetched £49.5 million ($76 million) at auction and is one of the priciest paintings ever sold. Its style is reminiscent of which Italian painter? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nikola Tesla (1856)Tesla was an inventor and engineer known for his revolutionary contributions to the fields of electricity and magnetism. His inventions made possible the production of alternating-current electric power, and his Tesla coil is still used in radio technology. In 1912, he refused a Nobel Prize because he felt his co-recipient, Thomas Edison, was undeserving of the honor. He spent his final years caring for pigeons. What strange habits earned him a reputation as the quintessential "mad scientist"? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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one after another— Consecutively and in quick succession, with one person or thing rapidly following another in order (and usually indicating a large amount altogether). (Often formulated as "one (noun) after another.") More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cheltenham International Festival of Music (2025)Established in 1945 to give first performances of works by British composers, the two-week Cheltenham International Festival of Music has since expanded its scope considerably. Its musical repertoire now includes both British and foreign composers offering operas as well as symphonic, chamber, and choral music. Special master classes are also offered each year on such subjects as string quartets, piano trios, and brass instruments. Recitals and chamber music concerts are held in the Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham Spa's most important Regency structure. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: railwayMain Line - The principal line of a railway (1841), it also has the meaning "affluent area of residence" (1930s), originally that of Philadelphia, from the "main line" of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which added local stops to a string of backwater towns west of the city in late 19th century that helped turn them into fashionable suburbs. More... one-track mind - Is a reference to the railway. More... railway - The word was first recorded in 1776, but the first actual railway opened nearly 50 years later, in 1825. More... sidetrack - First used for a railway siding or a minor track or path. More... | |