Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, November 20, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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nonce
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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First ConditionalFirst conditional sentences contain a conditional verb in the simple present tense in the "if clause," and a future tense verb preceded by the auxiliary verb "will" in the main clause. What are first conditional sentences used to explain? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Iranian Space AgencyThe Iranian government established the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) in 2003. Just two years later, it declared that it would allocate $500 million to the ISA. Though Western nations have expressed concern, fearing that Iran's rapid advancement in space technology will improve its military capabilities, the ISA's most noteworthy space venture to date was launching a rocket containing living organisms—a rodent, two turtles, and several worms—into space in 2010. Did the animals survive the trip? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Microsoft Windows 1.0 Is Released (1985)Though Microsoft announced its new operating system in the fall of 1983, it was not ready for release until two years later, and the long delay led critics to label the product "vaporware." Even after Windows 1.0 finally hit the market, it was not particularly popular. Still, Windows was more user-friendly than the spare MS-DOS upon which it was built, and it allowed users to multitask. Two years later, it was superseded by Windows 2.0. When did Microsoft finally stop supporting Windows 1.0? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Selma Lagerlöf (1858)Lagerlöf was a Swedish author who is best known for her children's book, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. While working as a teacher, Lagerlöf got her big break as a writer when chapters of her first novel, Gösta Berling's Saga, won first prize in a literary contest. Lagerlöf rooted her work in legend in a reaction against contemporary Swedish realism. In 1909, she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. What did she do with her medal during World War II? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Before I do anything I feel that I have choice, and that influences what I do; but afterwards, when the thing is done, I believe that it was inevitable from all eternity.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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rubber jungle— An aviation term among pilots and airline crew for the effect created when the rubber oxygen masks in a commercial aircraft deploy from its ceiling. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Opening of the Underground Caves Day (2025)The end of World War II is marked annually by the people of Butaritari Island (northern islands of the independent republic of Kiribati). Each year, they open the caves that were built to shelter them during the war. Accompanied by a celebration, the event takes place on the anniversary of the day the caves initially were opened after the war ended in 1945. The event's main activities take place in Ukiangang village on Butaritari Island, featuring singing, dancing, feasting, and indoor and outdoor games. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: plateassiette - A prepared dish of food, French for "plate, course of a meal." More... dish, plate - Dish is a more general term and plate is more specialized. More... plate - Etymologically, something "flat," from Latin plattus, "flat," and Greek platys, "broad." More... placard - Comes from French plaquier, "to plate; lay flat." More... | |