Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, January 7, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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rebutter
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Participle PhrasesParticiples are words formed from verbs that can function as adjectives, as gerunds, or to form the continuous and perfect tenses of verbs. What is a dangling modifier? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Marriage StonesA marriage stone is a stone—or sometimes wood—lintel carved with the initials, coats of arms, or other symbols of a newly married couple along with the date of their marriage. Occasionally, religious symbols or artistic motifs are also incorporated into the design. Popular until Victorian times, marriage stones served as a record of a marriage as well as a symbol of social status. For whose 2005 wedding was a two-ton, granite marriage stone created? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Galileo Galilei Discovers Three of Jupiter's Four Largest Moons (1610)Jupiter has more than 60 moons. The four largest—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—were the first satellites of a planet other than Earth to be detected. They were discovered by Galileo in 1610, shortly after he invented the telescope, and are therefore known as the Galilean satellites. On January 7, 1610, Galileo observed near Jupiter what he described at the time as "three fixed stars, totally invisible by their smallness." How long did it take Galileo to realize they were not stars? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous (1844)Soubirous was a French peasant girl who claimed to see the Virgin Mary in apparitions at a grotto near Lourdes, her home, in 1858. The authorities, skeptical of her visions, subjected her to severe examinations. After years of scrutiny, she was allowed to enter the convent of Notre-Dame de Nevers, where she remained in seclusion until her death at 35. The grotto at Lourdes is now a pilgrimage site, and its waters are reputed to have healing powers. How many pilgrims visit Lourdes each year? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank, and independent.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Christmas (Russian Orthodox) (2024)This celebration of the birth of Jesus is observed by the Russian Orthodox Church under the Julian calendar, which trails behind the Gregorian calendar by 13 days. In 1991, after the Soviet Union had been officially dissolved, Christmas was observed openly and as a state holiday in Russia for the first time in 70 years. In Moscow, banners were strung up and Nativity scenes were displayed in Red Square. On Christmas Eve, tens of thousands jammed Red Square for performances by choirs and bellringers and gala fireworks. Midnight services were celebrated in churches. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: recentAmazonian epoch - The Amazonian epoch is the most recent of the Martian geologic epochs, from 1,800 years ago to the present. More... grey, gray - The distinction in spelling between British grey and American gray is recent, popping up in the 20th century. More... Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene, Oligocene - Epochs indicating periods in the Earth's geology; Pleistocene means "most recent," Pliocene means "more recent," Miocene means "moderately recent," and Oligocence means "but a little recent." More... neoteric - Used to describe a person, especially an author, it means one belongs to modern/recent times—but it might also refer to a person having a modern outlook or new ideas; when used of things, it indicates that they are modern, new, or recent. More... | |