Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, December 2, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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condescension
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subjunctive MoodThe subjunctive mood refers to verbs that are used to describe hypothetical or non-real actions, events, or situations. What is the subjective mood most commonly used to express? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Abbas the GreatShah Abbas I ascended the Persian throne in the late 16th century, after participating in the coup that deposed his father. Persian artistic achievement flourished during Abbas's reign. The empire's new capital, Isfahan, was transformed into one of the world's most beautiful cities and quickly became one of the most important cultural centers in the Islamic world. Abbas's rule was tarnished, however, by his cruelty to his family. What did he do to three of his sons? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Chain Reaction Is Demonstrated (1942)Constructed under an abandoned stand of bleachers at the University of Chicago, the world's first artificial nuclear reactor was little more than a pile of uranium and graphite bricks. It was built as part of the Manhattan Project under the supervision of renowned physicist Enrico Fermi. The first successful demonstration lasted 28 minutes and was a milestone in the history of physics. What code phrase did scientists use to convey the reactor's success to government officials? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Maria Callas (1923)An internationally known Greek-American opera star, Callas was celebrated less for her voice than for her electrifying stage presence and mastery of difficult roles. Her career blossomed in the 1940s. Offstage, her fiery temperament, dramatic love life, and demanding personality earned her the reputation of a consummate diva. During her media-fueled rivalry with soprano Renata Tebaldi in the 1950s, Callas was quoted as saying that comparing her to Tebaldi was like comparing what two things? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the next best thing— Something that is as good a substitute as possible for that which is really desired or best suited. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 United Arab Emirates National Day (2025)This national holiday commemorates the December 2, 1971, expiration of a British treaty that inhibited self-rule for the sheikhdoms on the Persian Gulf in the eastern Arabian peninsula, and the union of seven of the sheikhdoms in the former Trucial States to become the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates' major cities celebrate National Day on December 2-3. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wavecomber, breaker, roller - A long curving wave is a comber, a wave that curls over and dissolves into foam is a breaker, and a long wave moving steadily shoreward is a roller. More... scend - As a noun, it is the surge of a wave or the sea; as a verb, it means to pitch or surge up in a heavy sea. More... undulate - From Latin unda, "wave." More... wave - Meaning "movement of the sea," it seems to be an alteration of the earlier wawe, "wave," from Old English woeg, "motion, wave." More... | |