Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, September 21, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dusky
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Expressing Equality and InequalityWe can express similarities and differences between two nouns using adjectives that aren't comparative. To describe two things as equal, what construction can we use? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Language: What Is It?Humans are the only creatures to use a form of communication that scholars consider "language"—a system of spoken sounds or conventional symbols that communicates thought. Although some animals display similar social behavior, linguists are reluctant to term it language, instead describing it as "animal communication." Still, some animals have been taught certain features of human language. Why are most animal languages considered "closed"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus" Editorial Is Published (1897)In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon of New York City asked her father if Santa Claus was real. When he suggested that "if you see it in The Sun, it's so," she wrote to the newspaper and asked. Editor Francis Pharcellus Church's lengthy, touching reply became one of the most reprinted newspaper editorials in US history. "Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias," wrote Church. What happened to Virginia? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853)A Dutch physicist and professor at the University of Leiden, Onnes founded in 1884 a cryogenic laboratory that would become a renowned research center for low-temperature physics. He was the first to produce liquid helium, and in the process produced a temperature within a degree of absolute zero. He also discovered superconductivity—the abnormally high electrical conductivity of certain materials at very low temperatures. When did he receive the Nobel Prize in Physics? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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sleep like a baby— To experience a very deep and restful sleep; to sleep soundly. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Malta Independence Day (2025)This is a nationwide celebration of Malta's independence, achieved on September 21, 1964. Malta was under the control of various political entities from its earliest days. In the early 19th century, the Maltese acknowledged Great Britain's sovereignty. Malta's heroic stand against the Axis in World War II won a declaration that self-government would be restored at the end of the war, and indeed self-government under another constitution was granted in 1947. It was revoked and restored before independence was finally granted. Independence Day is celebrated with parades and festivities throughout the country. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: introductioninlay card - A pamphlet accompanying a CD, film, etc., giving an introduction. More... isagoge - An introduction to a field of study. More... front matter - Things in the beginning of a book like an introduction and table of contents. More... propaedeutic - A subject or course of study that is an introduction to more advanced study or to an art or science. More... | |