Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, September 5, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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connivance
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Prepositional IdiomsMany prepositions can be used with certain words or phrases to form idioms (expressions that have a unique meaning that cannot be inferred from their constituent parts). Prepositional idioms can function adverbially, adjectivally, or verbally. Where can they appear in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The PhalanxThe phalanx was an ancient formation of infantry in which soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder in rows of eight or 16, forming a solid block that could sweep through the more dispersed ranks of the enemy. First used by the Sumerians and fully developed by the ancient Greeks, the phalanx reached its apex when Philip II and Alexander the Great used the great Macedonian phalanx to conquer all of Greece and the Middle East. Soldiers in their phalanxes were armed with the sarissa, which was what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Soviet Embassy Cipher Clerk Igor Gouzenko Defects to Canada (1945)Considered by some to be the first major international event of the Cold War, the defection of Soviet cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko radically transformed the way the West regarded and approached Soviet espionage. The authorities at first dismissed Gouzenko's reports of Stalin's efforts to steal nuclear secrets and of Soviet spy rings operating in Canada and the US, but he soon convinced them of the truth behind his allegations. The information he revealed helped lead to the apprehension of whom? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Arthur Koestler (1905)Born in Hungary, Koestler was an influential Communist journalist in Berlin in the 1930s. He was captured by fascist forces while on assignment during the Spanish Civil War and was later held in a concentration camp after the German invasion of France. In 1940, inspired by his break with Communism, he published his most important novel, Darkness at Noon, an examination of the moral dangers of totalitarianism. How did the terminally ill Koestler show his support for voluntary euthanasia? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Thank goodness...I was never sent to school...it would have rubbed off some of the originality.Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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sleep rough— To sleep outside at night, usually because one has no home or shelter. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ginseng Festival (2025)This festival is a celebration of ginseng in Fusong, a county in the Changbai Mountains of China and the largest ginseng grower in the country. The people of Fusong have traditionally celebrated the ginseng harvest, and, in 1987, the government officially set aside three days for both a festival and a trade fair of ginseng products. The festival features performances of yangko, dragon, and lion dances; story-telling parties with a ginseng theme; art and photo exhibits; and a fireworks display. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: revolutiongyre - A circular movement or revolution; to cause to spin around or whirl. More... rebellion, revolution - Rebellion is open resistance to a government or authority; revolution is a rebellion that succeeds in overthrowing the government and establishing a new one. More... rev - An abbreviation of revolution. More... young Turk - Term for a tyrannical or unmanageable man, based on the members of a party of Turkish agitators that brought about the revolution of 1908. More... | |