Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, May 8, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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renovate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using "May" to Ask for PermissionThe modal verb "may" is very commonly used to express or ask for permission to do something. While "may" is considered the most polite and formally correct option when asking for permission, what other modal verbs can be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Capuchin MonkeysCapuchins are highly intelligent monkeys that live in the tropical forests of Central and South America. In the wild, they use tools to crack open nuts and crabs and have learned to rub crushed millipedes on their backs as mosquito repellant. Easily trained, they are historically recognizable as the classic organ-grinder's monkey and are today widely used in lab experiments and occasionally as service animals. What sorts of tasks are monkey helpers trained to perform to assist the disabled? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Female Cadet Graduates from The Citadel (1999)For more than 150 years, only male cadets were allowed to attend the Citadel, an elite military college in South Carolina. The first female cadet gained the right to enroll after a legal battle in 1995, but she left after less than a week. The following year, Nancy Mace, the daughter of US Army Brigadier General Emory Mace, enrolled. She went on to become the first female graduate of the Citadel in 1999. How did early female cadets' barrack doors differ from those of male cadets? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Harry S. Truman (1884)In 1945, when US president Franklin D. Roosevelt died—just 82 days into his fourth term—Truman, his vice president, assumed the office. Presiding over the end of World War II and the transition to peacetime, he made unexpectedly bold decisions. He dropped the first atomic bombs on Japan, proposed the "Truman Doctrine" of Communist containment, authorized the Berlin Airlift, and initiated US involvement in the Korean War. For most of his second term, Truman did not live in the White House. Why? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Too much work and too much energy kill a man just as effectively as too much assorted vice or too much drink.Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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not get anywhere— To make no progress at all; to be stuck or at an impasse. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Helston Flora Day (2021)According to legend, there was a large stone that blocked off the entrance to hell. One night Satan tried to steal the stone; on his way through Cornwall, England, he was intercepted by the Archangel Michael, who forced him to drop the stone and flee. The town where he dropped it was called Helston (from Hellstone). The people of Helston continue to celebrate the Archangel's victory with the Helston Flora Day. The day's festivities include the "Furry dance," which is performed in the streets by men in top hats and women in fancy dresses, and a trip to the woods in search of flowers and leaves. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: riversMesopotamia - Translates to "area or country between two rivers"—the Tigris and the Euphrates. More... potamology - The science of rivers. More... fluminous, potamic - Two words meaning "pertaining to rivers" are fluminous and potamic. More... watersmeet - A junction of two rivers. More... | |