Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 8, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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diffident
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining InfinitivesAn infinitive is the most basic form of a verb. It is "unmarked" (which means that it is not conjugated for tense or person), and it is preceded by what particle? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 BraconidaeHumans fear wasps for their sting, but some insects, like caterpillars, have a different reason to be wary: they are little more than prey to the more than 50,000 species of parasitoid wasp in the family Braconidae. Most braconids kill their hosts with viruses that suppress the immune system and allow the wasp's eggs to grow inside a host undetected. These polydnaviruses are actually produced by the wasps using viral genes that were integrated into their DNA how many million years ago? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Pope Pius IX Defines Immaculate Conception as Dogma (1854)The Immaculate Conception is the Roman Catholic dogma that asserts that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved from the stain of original sin—the condition of sin that marks all humans as a result of Adam's first act of disobedience—at the moment of her conception. In 1709, Pope Clement XI made the feast of the Immaculate Conception a holy day of obligation—145 years before it became official church dogma. The Immaculate Conception is often confused with what other church doctrine? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Camille Claudel (1864)A skilled French sculptor in her own right, Claudel is best remembered for being a student, collaborator, model, and mistress of famed sculptor Auguste Rodin. The two had a tumultuous affair that began to crumble in the 1890s, and Claudel, who suffered from mental illness, became increasingly unstable and reclusive. She was committed in 1913 and remained institutionalized until her death 30 years later. Her work is highly valued by collectors, but little of it survives today. Why is this? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 An aching head soon makes one forget an aching heart.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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get (one's) thinking cap on— To begin thinking or considering very carefully and seriously (about something), often to solve a problem. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Santon Fair (2025)Santons are the small, colored clay figures that appear in crêches throughout France at Christmas. Thousands of people come from all over to purchase their santons at the Santon Fair, which takes place during the month of December in Marseilles. In addition to the usual biblical figures, a number of local figures, garbed in traditional Provençal clothing, can be purchased at the fair. They are made by local families who have passed down the molds and models from generation to generation since the 17th century. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pointedapothegm - A terse, pointed saying or pithy maxim; it is pronounced AP-uh-them and may also be spelled apophthegm. More... downward-facing dog - Also called downward dog, it is a yoga pose in which the hands and feet are on the floor and one's rear end is pointed up so that the body is in an upside-down V. More... fastigate - To make pointed. More... innuendo - Latin for "by nodding at, pointing to," or "intimating," from in-, "toward," and nuere, "nod." More... | |