Daily Content Archive

(as of Tuesday, October 22, 2024)
Word of the Day

cerebral

Definition:(adjective) Involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct.
Synonyms:intellectual
Usage: She preferred to take a cerebral approach to the problem and sat for hours in deep contemplation.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Using "May" to Express Future Wishes

The modal verb "may" is used in more formal language to express a wish or desire that something will be the case in the future. When "may" is used in this way, what happens to the subject in the sentence? More...
Article of the Day

The Qianlong Emperor

Hongli took the title of Qianlong—meaning "the Era of Strong Prosperity"—when his imperial reign of China began in 1735. Ironically, by the end of Qianlong's reign in 1796, expensive military expeditions and corruption had nearly exhausted the funds of the Imperial Treasury. A patron of the arts, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned a catalogue of all important Chinese cultural works that took 20 years to complete and consisted of 36,000 volumes. How many copyists were involved in the project? More...
This Day in History

Final Attack by the Beltway Sniper (2002)

For three weeks in October 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo terrorized the Washington, DC, metropolitan area by shooting random victims from a distance. Ten people were killed and three others wounded in the spree, which was later linked to earlier shootings. Two days after killing their final victim, Muhammad and Malvo were arrested after being found sleeping in the car from which they had shot their victims. Before the arrest, the pair had planned to travel to Canada to do what? More...
Today's Birthday

Franz Liszt (1811)

Liszt was a revolutionary figure of romantic music. Born in Hungary, he made his debut at age 9 and studied in Vienna with Salieri. After his father's death and a disastrous love affair, he almost gave up music for the priesthood. Nevertheless, "Lisztomania" swept Europe in the 1840s, and Liszt enthralled audiences with his astounding technique and grand, dramatic style of playing. Thereafter, he taught and composed prolifically. In 1861, he nearly married a princess but was thwarted—by what? More...
Quotation of the Day
In the bosoms of this people, thus heterogeneously composed, there was burning, kindled at different furnaces, but all furnaces of affliction, one clear, steady flame of liberty.

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)

Idiom of the Day

steely-eyed

With or having a fierce intensity in one's expression. More...
Today's Holiday

Hi Matsuri (2025)

On the evening of October 22, people light bonfires along the narrow street leading to the Kuramadera Shrine in Kurama, a village in the mountains north of Kyoto, Japan. Fire is a purifying element according to Shinto teachings, and the village is believed to be protected from accidents on this night. Soon after dusk, torches are lit. Even babies are allowed to carry tiny torches made of twigs, while young men carry torches so large it sometimes takes several men to keep them upright. Everyone chants "Sai-rei! Sai-ryo!" ("Festival, good festival!") as they walk through the streets. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: stare

extant - Comes from Latin ex-, "out," and stare, "to stand," and means "currently or actually in existence." More...

stare - Its etymological notion is "fixity" or "rigidity," from a Germanic base meaning "be rigid." More...

gaure - To stare in astonishment. More...

gorgonize - To stare at with a petrifying look. More...

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