Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 7, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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effervescent
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Non-Finite Verbs and GerundsNon-finite verbs are verbs that do not have tenses or subjects that they correspond to. Instead, these verbs are usually infinitives, gerunds, or participles. What suffix do gerunds end in? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Wave PowerWave power is a form of renewable energy that may be harnessed for use in electricity generation. Capturing the energy of ocean surface waves and converting it into a useable form of electrical energy is a difficult task, and a major technological breakthrough is necessary for it to contribute significantly to the world's energy needs. Salter's Duck, invented in 1974, remains the device against which all other wave energy systems are measured. Why did wave power funding dry up in the 1980s? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Recording Industry Association of American Sues Napster (1999)Shortly after Napster was founded in 1999, the popular file-sharing service was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The trial gave Napster so much publicity that usage of the service increased, despite RIAA's claim that Napster users were breaking the law by downloading copyrighted music for free. Though it was forced by an injunction to shut down its network in July 2001, Napster did not fold. What happened to it? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Willa Sibert Cather (1873)Cather moved with her family to Nebraska at the age of nine, and though she later settled in New York, her prairie upbringing deeply influenced her writing. Her novels, which include O Pioneers!, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and My Ántonia, celebrate the spirit and courage of pioneer life. Her works include several independent heroines of the frontier and have been studied from a feminist perspective. Cather occasionally wore men's clothing and went by what nickname? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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things that go bump in the night— Frightful, deadly, and usually supernatural things or events that one imagines in the dark of night. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Burning the Devil (2025)La Quema del Diablo takes place in Guatemala. Men dressed as devils chase children through the streets from the start of Advent until December 7, the eve of the Immaculate Conception. On this day, trash fires are lit in the streets of Guatemala City and other towns, and the devils' reign of terror comes to an end. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: publishedfactoid - An unsubstantiated statement, account, or report published as if it were factual, coined by the novelist Norman Mailer from fact + -oid (as in android, humanoid), in reference to his fictionalized biography of Marilyn Monroe. More... divulgate - If something is divulgate, it is published. More... libel, slander - Libel—from Latin libellus, "little book"—must be published, while spoken defamatory remarks are slander; libel first meant "document, written statement." More... backlist - Older books kept in print by a publisher. More... | |