Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, November 30, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the SubjectThe subject in a sentence or clause is the person or thing doing, performing, or controlling the action of the verb. Only that which has the grammatical function of a noun can be the subject of a clause. Why? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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.jpg) Ice-NineIce-nine is a fictional material conceived by author Kurt Vonnegut in his novel Cat's Cradle. Described as an alternate solid form of water that is more stable than common ice, it is said to melt at 114.4° Fahrenheit (45.8° Celsius) rather than at 32° Fahrenheit (0° Celsius). When ice-nine comes into contact with liquid water, it causes the entire body of water to crystallize as ice-nine—with obvious far-reaching consequences. How did Vonnegut supposedly get the idea for the substance? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Battle of Narva (1700)Sweden's power and influence in the Baltic region was growing when the young and inexperienced Charles XII came to the throne in 1697. Seeing their chance to end Swedish domination of the area, Charles's neighbors—Peter I of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark, and Augustus II of Poland—formed an alliance and attacked. At Narva, the first major battle of the Great Northern War, Charles's army soundly defeated the superior Russian forces. A few years later, Peter returned to Narva. What happened? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jonathan Swift (1667)Known as one of the greatest satirists in the English language, Swift was an ordained Anglican priest who devoted himself to exposing England's unfair treatment of his native Ireland. In his ironic 1729 tract "A Modest Proposal," he suggested that the Irish escape poverty by selling their children to by eaten by the English. His classic Gulliver's Travels is a ruthless satire of human follies. Swift once mocked a publisher of astrological predictions by making what prediction of his own? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the butt of the joke— Someone or something at whose expense an insulting or mocking joke is made. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Eton Wall Game (2025)Every year on St. Andrew's Day, England's prestigious Eton College holds the famous Eton Wall Game, a variety of rugby that has its own highly technical rules and is different from all other forms of the game. The object of the game is to win goals by maneuvering the ball into the opposing team's "calx," designated by a chalk line on a garden wall at one end of the field and by a mark on a tree at the other. The game is made up of many scrimmages along the brick wall that marks off the college athletic field for which the game is named, and goals are almost never scored. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sheetmap - Comes from Latin mappa mundi, "sheet of the world" from mappa, "napkin, tablecloth." More... ream - Used to be 480 sheets of paper and is now 500. More... bed clothes, night clothes - Bed clothes usually refers to blankets and sheets, while night clothes refers to pajamas and gowns. More... portfolio - Comes from Italian for "carry" and "sheets or leaves of paper." More... | |