Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, January 31, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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lineal
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Future Perfect TenseWe use the future perfect tense to say that something will finish or be completed at a specific point in the future. How else can the future perfect tense be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 AerogelAn aerogel is a highly porous solid formed from a gel, such as silica gel, in which the liquid is replaced with a gas. The lightest is less than four times as dense as dry air. Silica-based aerogels are among the lightest, and some, nicknamed "solid smoke" or "frozen smoke," are nearly transparent. Heavier aerogels were first developed in 1931 and have been used to detect high-energy particles emitted by particle accelerators. What are some other applications of aerogels in everyday products? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Nauru, World's Smallest Island Nation, Gains Independence (1968)Annexed by Germany in 1888, controlled by Great Britain since World War I, occupied by Japan during World War II, and administered by Australia until the late 1960s, the tiny, phosphate-rich island of Nauru flourished in the years following its independence. However, after the island exhausted its primary phosphate reserves, living conditions deteriorated. Today, it has a 90 percent unemployment rate, and much of the island is uninhabitable. What percent of Nauruan citizens are obese? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 William Charles Lunalilo (1835)The shortest-reigning monarch in Hawaiian history, Lunalilo was unanimously elected by the legislature after the death of Kamehameha V, who had declined to name an heir. Just 13 months later, the similarly heirless Lunalilo died of alcoholism and tuberculosis. His goal of a more democratic Hawaii had earned him the nickname "the People's King," and he was buried in a common cemetery rather than in the royal mausoleum. What was his reward for having composed Hawaii's first national anthem? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 He had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favor of two.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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yardarm to yardarm— outdated Really close together. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nauru Independence Day (2022)This island in the Pacific Ocean gained independence from Great Britain on January 31, 1968. It had been governed by Australia. Independence Day is a national holiday in Nauru. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: remainbide one's time - Based on abide, meaning "remain" or "to wait awhile." More... marcescent - Describes leaves that wither but remain attached to the stem. More... mansion, mansionary - Mansion first meant the action of living or remaining in a place, from French manere, "remain," from Latin mansio, "staying"; mansionary is an adjective meaning "resident." More... stick-in-the-mud - Based on the notion of "to stick in the mud, to be content to remain in an abject condition." More... | |