Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, August 12, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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gargantuan
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Punctuating Direct SpeechDirect speech refers to the direct quotation of something that someone else said. When we use direct speech in writing, how do we indicate it? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Whale FallsWhale carcasses that have sunk to the sea floor are known in the scientific community as whale falls. Around them spring up complex localized ecosystems, which feed off the rich sustenance they provide for decades. The phenomenon was accidentally discovered in 1987 by a team of University of Hawaii oceanographers, who were exploring the ocean depths with a robotic submersible. Many previously unknown species have since been discovered at whale falls. Which organisms thrive in this environment? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Russian Submarine K-141 Kursk Sinks in Barents Sea (2000)While completing naval exercises with dummy torpedoes on August 12, 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk suffered two explosions two minutes and 15 seconds apart. The second explosion registered about a 3.5 on the Richter scale. The blasts destroyed the front hull, and all 118 crew members died. It was initially believed that the entire crew died quickly. However, what evidence later suggested that some survived in another area of the submarine for about four hours after the explosions? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ross and Norris McWhirter (1925)In 1954, a few years after identical twins Norris and Ross McWhirter founded a London fact-finding agency, they met a director of the Guinness brewing company, Sir Hugh Beaver, who commissioned a compilation of world records that was intended to settle bar-room disputes. The first edition of the McWhirters' Guinness Book of Records was given to bars for free as a marketing gimmick, but the book quickly became a phenomenal success. In 1975, Ross was assassinated. Why? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 November, n.: The eleventh twelfth of a weariness.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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quake like a leaf— To tremble violently with fear or nervousness. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Queen's Birthday (Thailand) (2025)The Queen's Birthday is a nationwide celebration in Thailand of the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit (b. 1932). Throughout the country, buildings are decorated to honor the queen, but the most splendid are in Bangkok, where buildings and streets are brilliant with colored lights. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: turkeypoult - A young domestic fowl (like a turkey) being raised for food. More... meleagrine - The adjective form of turkey. More... wattle - The fleshy part hanging from the neck of a turkey or other bird. More... turkey - Originally the name for African guinea fowl, it eventually became the name for the Western hemisphere fowl with which the earlier fowl was confused; it is short for turkeycock or turkeyhen. More... | |