The following is a list of the top general news and newspaper sites in the United States, sorted by traffic (unique monthly visitors).

Top Dictionaries for Quick Lookup

Merriam-Webster Dictionary – the Webster dictionary is one of the most cited dictionaries.

AskOxford.com – The online version of the famous Oxford dictionary.

Dictionary.com – Dictionary.com is one of the most popular dictionaries on the web.
FreeDictionary.com – the Free dictionary.

Dictionaries

• American-Heritage Collegiate Dictionary
• Century Unabridged Dictionary (1889)
• Cambridge Dictionaries Online
• Historical Dictionary of American Slang
• Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary
• New World College Dictionary
• Oxford English Dictionary (Subscription or Purchase Only)
• Wordnik English Dictionary
• Chambers (British) English Dictionary
• Dictionarium Britannicum
• Dictionary.com
• Encarta
• Get-Definition Dictionary
• Illustrated Semantically Organized Glossary
• Learning English Online
• Modern English-Indo-European Dictionary
• Newbury House Online Dictionary
• The Macquarie Dictionary (Australian—requires subscription)
• Wordnet English Dictionary and Thesaurus
• Wordsmyth

Specialty Dictionaries

• The Phrase Finder
• English Specialty Dictionaries (125 categories)
• Baby-Talk Dictionary
• Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms
• Dictionary of Idioms
• Dictionary of Newfoundland English Online
• Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811)
• GoEnglish.com Idiom Dictionary
• Grandiloquent Dictionary
• Middle English Dictionary
• Piggot’s Political Dictionary (1795)
• Rhyming Dictionary and Thesaurus
• Scots English Dictionary

Grammars

• Directory of English Grammar
• A Brief Grammatical Sketch of English
• Advanced English Lessons
• Beginning English for Somali Speakers
• English Club English Grammar
• English Online from New Zealand Ministry of Education
• Eva Easton’s Basic English Grammar
• Online English Grammar
• Phonetics Flash Animation Project
• The Internet Grammar of English

General Dictionaries, Sorted by Number of Words in Database

1. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: [5278306 words]
2. Dictionary.com: [775929 words]
3. Dict.cc Englisch/Deutsch Wörterbuch: [750745 words]
4. Dict.cc Englisch/Deutsch Wörterbuch: [590803 words]
5. Wiktionary: [580200 words]
6. bab.la: [512709 words]
7. Wordnik: [472624 words]
8. Dictionary/thesaurus: [444483 words]
9. Online Talking Dictionary: [293864 words]
10. Free Dictionary: [254453 words]
11. Rhymezone: [229780 words]
12. LookWAYup Translating Dictionary/Thesaurus: [187425 words]
13. AllWords.com Multi-Lingual Dictionary: [175063 words]
14. Mnemonic Dictionary: [147153 words]
15. Infoplease Dictionary: [127110 words]
16. WordNet 1.7 Vocabulary Helper: [119160 words]
17. Urdu/English Dictionary: [113319 words]
18. Online Plain Text English Dictionary: [111729 words]
19. Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, 11th Edition: [107545 words]
20. Encarta® World English Dictionary, North American Edition: [107301 words]
21. UltraLingua English Dictionary: [103294 words]
22. Cambridge International Dictionary of English: [92986 words]
23. American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: [90491 words]
24. Webster’s Revised Unabridged, 1913 Edition: [88773 words]
25. Eurodict Online: [81035 words]
26. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Ed.: [80134 words]
27. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary: [62949 words]
28. Logos Multilingual E-translation Portal: [60678 words]
29. Langtolang: [51081 words]
30. Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition: [50831 words]
31. The Free Dictionary: [49963 words]
32. Gaelic Language (Manx): [48957 words]
33. The Free Dictionary: [48752 words]
34. The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus: [47719 words]
35. Macmillan Dictionary: [46109 words]
36. Compact Oxford English Dictionary: [41947 words]
37. Cambridge Dictionary of American English: [37791 words]
38. Collins Pocket English Dictionary: [37476 words]
39. 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica: [33710 words]
40. Columbia Gazetteer of North America: [33247 words]
41. The Free Dictionary: [28043 words]
42. Stammtisch Beau Fleuve Acronyms: [24060 words]
43. The Free Dictionary: [23996 words]
44. The Free Dictionary: [22814 words]
45. Online Etymology Dictionary: [21462 words]
46. General English-Spanish: [20735 words]
47. Langtolang English from/to French dictionary: [20075 words]
48. The Phrontistery – A Dictionary of Obscure Words: [16690 words]
49. Hutchinson Dictionaries: [15195 words]
50. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898): [15100 words]
51. Hutchinson’s Dictionary of Difficult Words: [14455 words]
52. Cobuild Student Dictionary for Learners of English: [13410 words]
53. 18 LANGUAGES MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARY: [9103 words]
54. Luciferous Logolepsy: [9029 words]
55. Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (Encyclopedia.com): [7267 words]
56. Wikimedia Commons US English Pronunciations: [7192 words]
57. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: [6639 words]
58. Virdainas – a Sudovian Dictionary: [5920 words]
59. The Free Dictionary: [5417 words]
60. E Cobham Brewer, The Reader’s Handbook: [5272 words]
61. Faclair G?idhlig – Beurla Gaelic – English Dictionary: [5173 words]
62. Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms: [5132 words]
63. Typographical Errors in Library Databases: [5114 words]
64. Encarta® Online Encyclopedia, North American Edition: [4994 words]
65. Who2: [4331 words]
66. Worthless Word For The Day: [4234 words]
67. InfoVisual Visual Dictionary: [3884 words]
68. R-O-Matic Italian/English Dictionary: [3504 words]
69. The Word Spy: [2701 words]
70. MyWord.info: [2507 words]
71. Japanese Kanji & Chinese Calligraphy Dictionary: [2420 words]
72. GREEK-ENGLISH DICTIONARY: [2403 words]
73. World Wide Words: [2363 words]
74. Dictionary of Americanisms (1848): [2158 words]
75. V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionary: [2042 words]
76. Grandiloquent Dictionary: [2039 words]
77. Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs: [1929 words]
78. Strange and Unusual Dictionaries: [1769 words]
79. The Word Detective: [1599 words]
80. All About Homonyms: [1506 words]
81. Double-Tongued Word Wrester: [1269 words]
82. Bali: The Online Travel Guide: [978 words]
83. My Hebrew Dictionary: [974 words]
84. Phrase Finder: [939 words]
85. UVic Writer’s Guide: [759 words]
86. A to Z list of the most popular idioms: [433 words]
87. ESL Idiom Page: [401 words]
88. Britih-American Dictionary: [365 words]
89. American-Britih Dictionary: [362 words]
90. The Spoken Taino Language: [334 words]
91. Yiddish-Hebrew-English-German-Russian Picture Dictionary: [186 words]
92. Phrasal Verb Page: [173 words]
93. Robb: German English: [160 words]
94. Russian dictionary: [157 words]
95. Turkish Acronyms to live by: [138 words]
96. Celtic Dictionary: [129 words]
97. New English Words: [113 words]
98. Foreign Words and Phrases: [73 words]
99. Election glossary: [61 words]
100. Ye Olde English Sayings: [43 words]

WATCH WORKERS TAKE DOWN LEBRON WITNESS BANNER:

Workers began dismantling the 10-story-tall iconic image of James on a mural in downtown Saturday, a billboard that has dominated the city’s skyline for years but is being taken down now that the superstar has left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.

“We are removing the LeBron James Witness mural in downtown Cleveland and expect the process to be completed within a few days,” Nike spokesman KeJuan Wilkins said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Wilkins said he does not yet know what the company’s plans are with the gigantic sign on the side of the Landmark Office Tower.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

U.S. Mail Holidays – UPS Holidays – DHL Holidays – FedEx Holidays

The following is the 2010 holiday schedule for USPS in the United States.

[Visit USPS' Calendar]

Friday, January 1 – New Year’s Day
Monday, January 18 – Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday
Monday, February 15 – Washington’s Birthday (President’s Day)
Monday, May 31 – Memorial Day
Monday, July 4 – Independence Day (observed Monday the 5th)
Monday, September 6 – Labor Day
Monday, October 11 – Columbus Day
Thursday, November 11 – Veterans Day
Thursday, November 25 – Thanksgiving Day
Saturday, December 25 – Christmas Day
Saturday, January 1, 2011 – New Year’s Day

The following is the 2010 holiday schedule for UPS in the United States.

[Visit UPS Days of Operation]

New Year’s Day – January 1, 2010*
Memorial Day – May 31, 2010*
Independence Day – observed Monday, July 5th, 2010*
Labor Day – September 6, 2010*
Thanksgiving Day – November 25, 2010*
Day after Thanksgiving – November 26, 2010* (Only delivery and pickup of air and international packages is available November 26th)
Christmas Day – December 25, 2010*
New Year’s Eve – December 31, 2010* (Only delivery and pickup of air and international packages is available December 31st)
New Year’s Day – January 1, 2011*

Saturday and Sunday are rest days for United Parcel Service. (Saturday delivery and pickup is available in certain regions)

* UPS Express Critical is available 365 days each year

The following is the 2010 holiday schedule for DHL operations in the United States.

DHL holiday schedules vary by country, and international holidays may have an impact on transit times.

[DHL Holiday Schedule]

New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1, 2010
Memorial Day – Monday, May 31, 2010
Independence Day – Sunday, July 4, 2010
Labor Day – Monday, September 6, 2010
Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 25, 2010
Christmas Day – Saturday, December 25, 2010
New Year’s Day – Saturday, January 1, 2011

2010 FedEx holiday delivery schedule for the U.S.

[FedEx Holiday Schedule]

New Year’s Day – January 1, 2010
Memorial Day – May 31, 2010
Independence Day – observed Monday, July 5, 2010
Labor Day – September 6, 2010
Thanksgiving Day – November 25, 2010
Christmas Day – December 25, 2010
New Year’s Day – January 1, 2011

World Cup 2010 begins on June 11th. ABC TV and ESPN announced that between the two stations all games will be aired. Check your local listings. In addition, there are many places to watch live streams of the games online. ESPN3: All the games will be streamed live on ESPN3.com.

Univision and TeleFutura will cary all the games live, in HD and stream them on UnivisionFutbol.com

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT WORLD CUP ONLINE

The World Cup has now surpassed Barack Obama’s election as the biggest event in the history of the Web. On day 1 of the football championship, the number of Web visitors per minute soared. Even now, worldwide Web traffic is well above normal. The highest peaks since inception of the Net Usage Index for News (August 18, 2005), based on total visitors per minutes. The following data ranks the top peaks, and the corresponding events that were taking place in the world at the time.

Date	Peak Visitors per Minute		Compelling News Event*
Jun. 11,  2010	12,078,868		Day 1 of 2010 World Cup Championships
Nov. 4,  2008	8,572,042		Barack Obama is victorious in historic presidential election
June 22, 2006	7,283,584		U.S. eliminated by Ghana in World Cup
Mar. 20,  2008	7,008,325		Day One of U.S. College Basketball 2008 Playoffs Coverage

The only known photograph of President John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe will be put on display in a Los Angeles gallery and listed at $23,000. Taken at a Manhattan after party on the night Monroe famously cooed “Happy Birthday,” the image is of the pair and the president’s brother Robert. At the time, Secret Service had instructions not to allow photographs of Kennedy and Monroe together. This photograph survived only because the negatives were in a dryer when the rest of the film was confiscated.

WATCH:

Surprising to many, the Exxon Valdez spill is only the 34th largest oil spill ever. And while the Deep Water Horizon spill is a disaster by any means, it remains distant to this top 10 list (Hopefully it never makes this list). I decided to publish this list because I’ve heard a handful of people say it’s the end-of-the-Ocean/Gulf-as-we-know-it. While it will take time to cleanup the surrounding shores from this environmental disaster, there is no doubt the Ocean and Gulf of Mexico will continue — just as the bodies of water continued after the following spills.

Top 10 Biggest Oil Spills in History (Most You’ve Never Heard Of)

1. Kuwait - 1991 – 520 million gallons; 4,000 square miles of Ocean
   Iraqi forces opened the values of several oil tankers in the ocean to hamper the invasion of American troops. The oil spill caused considerable damage to wildlife in the Persian Gulf especially in areas surrounding Kuwait and Iraq. Estimates on the volume spilled usually range around 11 million barrels (462 million gallons or 1.75 billion liters); the slick reached a maximum size of 101 by 42 miles (4242 square miles or 6787 km²) and was 5 inches (13 cm) thick in some areas. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the size of the spill, figures place it 5 to 27 times the size (in gallons spilled) of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and more than twice the size of the 1979 Ixtoc I blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. A 1993 study sponsored by UNESCO, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States found the spill did “little long-term damage”: About half the oil evaporated, a million barrels were recovered and 2 million to 3 million barrels washed ashore, mainly in Saudi Arabia.
2. Mexico – 1980 – 100 million gallons
   A large accident with an offshore oil well caused an explosion which collapsed the well. While the well remained open, 30,000 gallons spilled into the ocean daily until it was closed a full year after.
3. Trinidad and Tobago – 1979 – 90 million
   A tropical storm off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago caused a Greek oil tanker to collided with another ship, spilling 90 million gallons of oil.
4. Russia – 1994 – 84 million gallons
   A Russian pipeline leaked for eight months before it was discovered and repaired. 84 million gallons.
5. Persian Gulf – 1983 – 80 million gallons
   An oil taker collided with a drilling platform. The platform collapsed into the sea and this well continued to spill oil into the ocean for several months before officials could repair the broken well.
6. South Africa – 1983 – 79 million gallons
   An oil tanker caught fire and sank.
7. France – 1978 – 69 million gallons
   During a severe storm the ship ran aground and broke in half. The entire cargo spilled into the English Channel.
8. Angola – 1991 – more than 51 million gallons
   The tanker expolded.
9. Italy – 1991 – 45 million gallons
   The tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Italy.
10. Odyssey Oil Spill – 1988 – 40 million gallons
    Drilling rig burst info flames.

Need the official date and time:

• The Official U.S. Time

Need to know the time in an
important city?
Use these lists to find out:

• Small Time Zone List with Cities
• Large Time Zone List with Cities

For the person that’s about to make an International phone call or is planning a trip to a foreign country, the world time map helps you plan for any event involving an international setting.

• Click on the map below for time the time difference or use this Time Zone Converter.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, introduced this resolution in the Second Continental Congress proposing independence for the American colonies.

Acting under the instruction of the Virginia Convention, Richard Henry Lee on June 7, 1776, introduced a resolution in the Second Continental Congress proposing independence for the colonies. The Lee Resolution contained three parts: a declaration of independence, a call to form foreign alliances, and “a plan for confederation.” The document that is included on page 22 is the complete resolution in Richard Henry Lee’s handwriting.

On June 11, 1776, the Congress appointed three concurrent committees in response to the Lee Resolution: one to draft a declaration of independence, a second to draw up a plan “for forming foreign alliances,” and a third to “prepare and digest the form of a confederation.”

Because many members of the Congress believed action such as Lee proposed to be premature or wanted instructions from their colonies before voting, approval was deferred until July 2. On that date, Congress adopted the first part (the declaration). The affirmative votes of 12 colonies are listed at the right. New York cast no vote until the newly elected New York Convention upheld the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.

The plan for making treaties was not approved until September of 1776; the plan of confederation was delayed until November of 1777.

(Information excerpted from National Archives Education Staff. The Constitution: Evolution of a Government. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2001.)