Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, December 18, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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tuneful
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining AdjectivesAdjectives are used almost exclusively to modify nouns, as well as any phrase or part of speech functioning as a noun. For example, what is the adjective in the sentence, "A loud group of students passed by"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 ShamashOne of the great deities in Mesopotamian religion, Shamash was the god of the Sun, who, with his father, the Moon god Sin, and the goddess Ishtar, was part of an astral triad of divinities. As the solar god, Shamash was the heroic conqueror of night and death, and he became known as the god of justice and equity. He was said to have presented the Code of Hammurabi to the Babylonian king, and at night he served as judge of the underworld. In what Babylonian epic is Shamash mentioned? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Saturn's Moon Epimetheus Is Discovered (1966)Epimetheus, a nonspherical body measuring about 89 mi (144 km) by 67 mi (108 km) by 61 mi (98 km), is one of Saturn's 48 confirmed natural satellites. It was discovered in 1966 and photographed in 1980 by the Voyager 1 probe. Epimetheus and another moon, Janus, are co-orbital, meaning that they share nearly the same orbit. About every fourth year, the lower, faster satellite overtakes the other and is boosted into the higher orbit. After what mythological figure is Epimetheus named? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson (1856)One of the founders of modern physics, Thomson helped revolutionize the knowledge of atomic structure. He is known primarily for his discovery of the electron and his investigation of its charge and mass, his development of the mathematical theory of electricity and magnetism, and his role in the discovery of isotopes and invention of mass spectrometry. His research into the electrical conductivity of gases earned him a Nobel Prize in 1906. What did Thomson originally call electrons? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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locker-room humor— Especially crude, vulgar, or bawdy humor. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Modesto's Day (2024)St. Modesto is the patron saint of farmers in Greece. His feast day is celebrated with various rituals in honor of farm animals. In Lemnos, kollyva (cooked wheat berries) and holy water are mixed with their fodder, while in Lesbos, the holy water is sprinkled on the fields to ward off locusts and disease. For horses and oxen, December 18 is a day of rest. The Eastern Orthodox Church reserves this day to commemorate St. Modestus, who was patriarch of Jerusalem from 631 to 634. He is known for a sermon he preached on the bodily Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pursuitdachshund - German for "badger hound," from its original breeding purpose to pursue a badger (etc.) that has taken refuge in a burrow. More... invite - Comes from Latin invitare, from an Indo-European root meaning "to go after something, pursue with vigor, desire." More... logology - The pursuit of word puzzles; also the science of words. More... sue - From Latin sequi, "follow," it first meant "follow, go in pursuit of." More... | |