Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, January 12, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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undulate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Forming Plural NounsPlurals of nouns are used to indicate when there is more than one person, place, animal, or thing. The normal method for making nouns plural is to add an "-s" at the end of the noun. When do we add "-es" to render a noun plural? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Nestorian SteleThe Nestorian Stele is an ancient stone artifact that reveals a Christian presence in 7th-century China. The Christian sect of Nestorianism originated in 5th-century Constantinople and reached China through missionaries. Inscribed in both Chinese and Syriac, the almost 10-foot (3-m) limestone stele, or stone slab, describes the existence of Christian communities in northern China and reveals that the Emperor Taizong had recognized Christianity by 635 CE. When was the stele unearthed? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Motown Records Founded (1959)Detroit songwriter Berry Gordy, Jr., founded Motown Records in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family. The label scored its first big hit with the Miracles' "Shop Around" in 1960, and its roster soon boasted the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Supremes, and Marvin Gaye. By creating the "Motown sound"—lyrical ballads set to an infectiously rhythmic accompaniment—it helped to make African-American music part of the popular music industry. Where does the name "Motown" come from? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Edmund Burke (1729)Burke was a British parliamentarian, orator, and political philosopher. Essays he published in the late 1750s gained the attention of Denis Diderot and Immanuel Kant, and he was hired to edit a yearly survey of world affairs. In his many and diverse writings, he left a monumental construction of British political thought that had a profound and long-term influence in England, America, and France. Burke held contrasting opinions on the American and French revolutions. Which did he support? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A word which some lexicographer has marked obsolete is ever thereafter an object of dread and loathing to the fool writer, but if it is a good word and has no exact modern equivalent equally good, it is good enough for the good writer.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a losing game— A failing or hopeless effort; a situation or activity that is ultimately futile or cannot be won. (Most often used in the phrase "play a losing game.") More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Hostos Day (2025)Eugenio Maria de Hostos (1839-1903) was a Puerto Rican philosopher and patriot who became a leader of the opposition to Spanish colonial rule in the 19th century. He campaigned for the education of women in Brazil, and his books on law and education triggered reforms in other Latin American countries. He even sponsored the first railroad between Chile and Argentina, across the Andes Mountains. The anniversary of his birth is observed as a public holiday in Puerto Rico on the second Monday in January. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pigmentspastel - First pertained to pigment or paste and evolved to mean light or pale colors. More... excipient - An inactive substance that serves as the vehicle or medium for a drug; it is also the material or surface that receives the pigments in painting. More... primary colors, secondary colors - In dyes, pigments, and paints, the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue—which mix to make the secondary colors: orange, green, and purple. More... raw sienna, burnt sienna - Raw sienna is a brownish-yellow earth color obtained from a natural clay containing iron and manganese; burnt sienna is reddish-brown. More... | |