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Almanac.com - The Old Farmer's Almanac has been published ever since George Washington was president. This almanac gives the best time to plant crops, helps to determine the weather long in advance, and has lots of cool old sayings (these are called aphorisms ). People have used and enjoyed the Old Farmer's Almanac throughout history. Now, parts of this publication are available on the Internet. You can see weather predictions, read some old-timey quotes, and find a great history of the almanac. Whether you live on a farm or in a city high-rise apartment, you'll like this site.
CIA World Factbook - Did you know that Kenya (569,250 square kilometers) is twice the size of Nevada? Did you know that in Denmark four languages are spoken (Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic, and German)? If you ever wanted to know facts like these about countries around the world, this is the place to look. You'll also find a section on oceans of the world. By the way, did you know that as of 1993 there were 215 million TV sets in the United States?
Calendar - If you've ever needed a quick calendar, for, say, the year 1753, or maybe the year 3000, or anything in between, you'll love this site in Norway. Key in the year you want (try the year you were born), and like magic, a calendar is generated. Be sure to read the technical information on how the calendar program works. Oh, and if you want a calendar in English, just click on the British flag.
How Does a Word Get in the Dictionary? - Have you ever wondered how editors of dictionaries choose which words to list and which definitions to use to describe words? This page explains how Merriam-Webster does it, and they should know the best way, because they have been doing it since the 1880s. There are almost 15 million citations for word uses in their database today.
Information Please Kids' Almanac - This is great! We typed in "longest river" and up came a list starting with the Nile, about 4,180 miles in length. Then we tried typing "Michael Jordan birthday." BAM! He was born February 17, 1963. You can build your vocabulary with Word of the Day and find out whose birthday is celebrated today. Don't miss this site.
The Mnemonic Number Alphabet - Mnemonics are handy little devices for jogging our memories. For example, the first letters of "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles" gives the initials, in order, of the nine planets. "Lucy Can't Drink Milk" provides the Roman numerals in order for 50, 100, 500, and 1,000. Some of these mnemonics have been helping students breeze through tests for years; now it's your turn to use them! Do you have trouble remembering dates in history class? Try the mnemonic alphabet system, which replaces numbers with consonants. Maybe you can make up some of your own, too.
The Quotations Home Page - "A child of five could understand this. Fetch me a child of five." The comedian Groucho Marx said that. To find all kinds of quotes, from long ago and just yesterday, be sure to try this page. You'll find quotes by everyone from Miss Piggy to David Letterman here. There's a collection of the world's most annoying proverbs ("Haste makes waste") as well as "miscellaneous malapropisms" and student bloopers ("The Egyptians built the Pyramids in the shape of a huge triangular cube"). Don't miss The Best of Anonymous either ("Remember, a day without sunshine is like night"). This site is highly recommended!
The Word Detective - This syndicated newspaper column has been running since 1953. William Morris started it, and now his son, Evan, does the honors. A short while after the columns run in newspapers, he posts them on this page. Morris answers readers' questions about the English language and its odd words and phrases, such as "busting chops," "lame duck," or "eyes peeled," and he does this cleverly, with wit and humor. He also has a sampling of The Word Detective , a newsletter that "aims for the large grey area between the Oxford English Dictionary and Monty Python."
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