Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, November 5, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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confrere
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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The Past Emphatic TenseWe can form a positive sentence in the past simple tense by using the past emphatic tense. It is formed by using "did" before the main verb, which is in the present tense. The emphatic past tense places special emphasis on what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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.jpg) BebopBebop is a jazz style characterized by harmonic complexity, overlapping melodic lines, and frequent shifting of rhythm—which its name mimics. It emerged in the 1940s as a group of musicians—including Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker—rejected conventional swing to pioneer an extension of improvised jazz. In the 1950s, two genres grew out of bebop: the aggressive style of hard bop and the understated approach of cool jazz. What does "dropping bombs" mean in a bebop arrangement? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Hither Green Rail Crash (1967)The Sunday evening express train from Hastings to London was traveling 70 miles per hour (113 km/h) when it struck a stressed and fractured rail not far from London's Hither Green depot. Several other trains may have successfully passed over the broken rail earlier, but the packed Hastings to London train derailed and partially overturned, killing 49 people in one of the worst rail disasters in British history. What pop singer survived the accident? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mahmud Ghazan (1271)One of the most prominent Mongol leaders of Persia, Ghazan was raised Buddhist but converted to Islam in 1295 before inheriting his father's throne. Well educated and fluent in several languages, he tasked his vizier with composing a history of the Mongols. In Syria, he successfully fought his family's enemy, the Mamluks, but they reoccupied the area upon his departure. What European nation became so fascinated with Mongol culture in the 13th century that many children were named for Ghazan? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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take ill— To be or become sick or unwell. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Día del Puno (2025)Each year a festival takes place in Puno, Peru, during the first week in November to mark the legendary birth of the first Inca ruler, Manco Capac, and his wife, Mama Ocllo. On November 5, the date associated with their birth, a parade of reed boats, called balsas, accompanies an elaborately decorated boat that takes a couple playing the roles of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo to an island in the lake. There, the birth is dramatically reenacted. Festivities include performances by traditional dance and musical groups, sporting events, exhibits, and a crafts fair. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: loudhappy-clappy - Refers to any Christian congregation that is extremely enthusiastic, loud, and musical. More... stentor - Homer introduced Stentor, a very loud herald, in the Iliad—which gives us stentor, "person with a loud voice," and stentorian, which originally meant "loud, booming." More... rodomontade - Meaning loud bragging, it got its name from Rodomonto, a loud bragging Moorish king of epics. More... thersitical, clamant - To be thersitical is to be loudmouthed or foulmouthed; clamant is loud and insistent. More... | |