Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 10, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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greensward
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Adverbial ClausesAn adverbial clause, or adverb clause, is a group of words behaving as an adverb. It is used, like a regular adverb, to modify adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. If we want to identify the function of an adverbial clause in a sentence, what can we look at? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Gin CrazeIn 18th-century London, an unprecedented rise in the popularity of gin led to a decades-long epidemic of extreme public drunkenness known as the Gin Craze. Moral outrage and legislative action ensued. Between 1729 and 1751, a series of laws were passed to control gin consumption. Often, such laws resulted in mass law-breaking. Lower wages, rising food prices, and the unprofitability of gin production eventually conspired to end the craze. How had gin become so popular in the first place? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Brown Dog Affair: Rioting Peaks in London (1907)In 1903, anti-vivisectionists enrolled as medical students at University College London and published an eyewitness account of a brown dog that had endured months of surgical experimentation while allegedly conscious. A professor named in the story sued for defamation and won. After the trial, anti-vivisectionists put up a statue of the dog as a monument in a park, but mobs of angry medical students rioted and tried to destroy it. In 1910, it was taken down by authorities. When was it replaced? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nelly Sachs (1891)Sachs was a German poet, translator, and dramatist. Born to a prosperous family, Sachs wrote poems mainly for fun until the advent of Nazism darkened her work and forced her to flee on one of the last flights to Sweden. Her lyrics from those years combine lean simplicity with intense imagery. Collections of her poetry include The Seeker and O the Chimneys. What other poet developed a deep friendship with Sachs, which unfortunately exacerbated both poets' mental illnesses? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There, then, he sat, the sign and symbol of a man without faith, hopelessly holding up hope in the midst of despair.Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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this, that, and the other— Miscellany; a lot of different, varying things. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Thailand Constitution Day (2025)In 1932, Thailand's absolute monarchy was replaced with a constitutional monarchy. King Rama VII oversaw the transfer of power. Under the newly instituted constitution of that time, the monarchy remained in place and the king was designated the head of state. Thailand has had a series of 18 constitutions or charters since 1932, the latest one being adopted in 2007. Each has allowed for a constitutional monarchy with greater or lesser power. Celebrations on Constitution Day involve the people thanking the monarchy for granting them a chance to take part in running the country. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: passionacokoinonia - Sex without passion or desire. More... excandescence - The state of being glowing hot, anger or passion. More... incense - Once meant to kindle any passion, good or bad. More... wrangle - To wrangle can mean "to scream with passion." More... | |