Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, August 6, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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swallowtail
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Past Perfect TenseThe past perfect tense expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past. How do we form the past perfect tense? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The CIAEstablished in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent executive bureau of the US government. Its primary function is obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons, and reporting such information to the various branches of government. Congress placed restraints on its activities in the early 1970s, when reports that it had engaged in assassinations and domestic spying surfaced. How was CIA involved in the Watergate scandal? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Cosmonaut Gherman Titov Becomes First Man to Spend a Day in Space (1961)Titov was a Soviet cosmonaut and the second man to orbit the Earth, preceded just months earlier by Yuri Gagarin, with whom he had trained. At 25 years old, Titov was selected to fly the Vostok 2 mission and spent 25 hours in space, completing 17 Earth orbits. The mission brought him several impressive designations: youngest person to fly in space, first person to experience space sickness, and first person to sleep in space. Though he overslept, what strange occurrence initially kept him up? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nicolas Malebranche (1638)Malebranche was a French priest, theologian, and philosopher who developed a synthesis of Cartesian and Augustinian thought with the purpose of reconciling the new science with Christian theology. Beginning with Descartes's dualism between mind and body, Malebranche developed his doctrine of occasionalism, which denies any interaction between the two realms. He summarized his beliefs in his famous assertion that we see all things in God, which led to an extended controversy with what theologian? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Books are good enough in their own way, but they are a mighty bloodless substitute for life.Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in the last analysis— When everything has been considered; when all the facts are known or the truth has come to light. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bolivia Independence Day (2024)Bolivians proclaimed their independence from Spain in 1809, but it took 16 years of struggle to actually gain it in 1825. Spain had ruled the area since the 16th century. The country was named for its revolutionary hero, Simón Bolívar, who, with José San Martín, led the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824 that resulted in the end of Spanish rule of Bolivia and Peru. Independence Day is a public holiday, celebrated over two days including August 6, with parades and dancing in the streets of La Paz and Sucre. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pendantpendant - A light fixture suspended from a ceiling, or the hanging part of an earring. More... append - Originally meant "hang on" or "attach as a pendant." More... pendant, pendent - Pendant is the noun; pendent is the adjective—meaning "hanging, suspended." More... pennant - A blend of pendant and pennon, a banner or flag. More... | |