Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, August 11, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Identifying Reflexive VerbsReflexive verbs are verbs whose subjects are also their direct objects—that is, the action of the verb is both committed and received by the same person or thing. Reflexive verbs can most easily be identified by the use of what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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| This Day in History | |
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 Mayan Long Count Calendar Begins (3114 BCE)The Long Count is one of the various ancient Mayan calendars that maintained complicated, cyclical measurements of time. It was intended to provide an accurate record of historical events and counts the days elapsed from a fixed starting point—calculated as August 11, 3114 BCE, the date of creation according to the Maya. Some believe that the calendar predicts the world's end on December 21, 2012, but scholars have widely rejected this claim. What was the significance of that date to the Maya? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alex Haley (1921)A descendent of African slaves, Haley began writing during a 20-year US Coast Guard career. He became a journalist, and earned national attention for The Autobiography of Malcolm X. His biggest success was 1976's Roots, a Pulitzer Prize-winning history of his ancestors beginning with their enslavement. A television adaptation became one of the most-watched programs in America, spurring interest in genealogy. Why then was the work excluded from a prominent anthology of literature? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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| Idiom of the Day | |
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be put out of business— To be caused or forced to cease carrying on commercial trading or transactions. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of St. Clare of Assisi (2025)There were a number of women who joined the Second Order of St. Francis, but the first and most famous was St. Clare (c. 1194-1253). She was joined 16 days later by her sister, Agnes; other women, referred to as the Poor Ladies, were eventually drawn to the hard life that Clare had chosen, and the religious order that she and Francis founded is known today as the Poor Clares. Clare died in 1253 and was canonized on August 12, 1255. Her feast day was eventually moved to August 11, the date of her death according to the revised Roman Catholic calendar. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: thickerconcave lens, convex lens - A concave lens is thinner at the center; a convex lens is thicker at the center. More... plank, board - A plank is thicker than a board. More... clotted cream - Cream made thicker and richer by cooking. More... skin - The term for the thin, tight covering on carrots, potatoes, grapes, and peaches—but also the thicker covering of bananas and avocados. More... | |