Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, December 9, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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vitriol
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ConjunctionsConjunctions are used to express relationships between things in a sentence, link different clauses together, and to combine sentences. There are four main types of conjunctions—what are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 NarcolepsyNarcolepsy is a disorder characterized by sudden, uncontrollable, and often brief attacks of sleep, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations. Its cause is unknown, it has no cure, but it is fairly common—the US alone is home to some 200,000 narcoleptics. People with narcolepsy may abruptly fall asleep at any time, including while talking or even walking. The attacks can range from embarrassing and inconvenient to severely disruptive of daily life. How is narcolepsy diagnosed? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Eradication of Smallpox Is Certified (1979)One of the deadliest diseases in history by sheer loss of life, smallpox was the target of a concerted, worldwide eradication campaign in the 20th century, and it became the first disease to have been successfully wiped out. Efforts focused on vaccination and quickly responding to and curtailing outbreaks. The last person to die from smallpox caught it at a laboratory, where samples of the now-vanquished disease remain. Who is the last person known to have contracted it in the wild? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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.jpg) Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717)The son of a German cobbler, Winckelmann overcame years of hardship to pursue his love of ancient Greek art, becoming a renowned scholar and one of the founders of scientific archaeology and art history. He spent much of his later life studying in the vast Vatican Library, and his writings reawakened the popular taste for Classical art and helped spur the Neoclassical movement. In 1768, a fellow traveler—who did not know who Winckelmann was—murdered him at a hotel, ostensibly for what reason? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Sentence first, verdict afterwards.Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be the pits— To be particularly bad, unfortunate, or awful, especially of a situation or outcome. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Antigua National Heroes Day (2025)Antigua has four citizens who have been designated as National Heroes, and December 9 is a public holiday to honor and celebrate all of them. The date is the birthday of one of the four, Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, the first prime minister of Antigua, who is considered the father of the nation. The others are King Court, who led a slave revolt in 1736; Dame Ellen Georgian Nellie Robinson, a pioneer in education; and Sir Vivian Richards, one of the world's greatest cricket players. Speeches and ceremonies honor the accomplishments of the National Heroes on this day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: maintainedpetite maison - A love nest or a residence maintained for a mistress. More... standing army - A permanent army maintained in time of peace and war. More... parochial school - A school established and maintained by a religious body, from Latin parochialis, "of a parish." More... radio silence - A status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area stop transmitting (sometimes limited to certain frequency bands) for the period of time during which this status exists. More... | |