Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, October 8, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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horologist
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Negative Questions with Question WordsWe can use the negative with interrogative sentences that are formed with certain question words ("who," "what," "where," and "why"). To make these sentences negative, where do we add "not"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 White ElephantsA "white elephant" is an expensive possession that is a financial burden to maintain. The expression derives from Southeast Asian monarchs' practice of making gifts of rare albino elephants, which, although sacred in South Asia and a sign of the ruler’s favor, were very expensive to keep and could not be sold or used for work. White elephants were thus both a blessing and a curse. According to tradition, what role did a white elephant play in the birth of the Buddha? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 San Marino Adopts Its Constitution (1600)Occupying just 24 sq mi (62 sq km), San Marino is the world's smallest republic and, having enacted a constitution in 1600, perhaps Europe's oldest existing republic. According to tradition, St. Marinus, a Christian stonecutter, took refuge in the 4th century on Mount Titano, and the community of San Marino was soon formed. Because of its relatively inaccessible location, it has since maintained its independence with only a few brief interruptions. Who did San Marino harbor during WWII? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Harriet Taylor Mill (1807)Harriet Taylor Mill was a philosopher and women's rights advocate who is largely remembered for the influence she had on her second husband, John Stuart Mill, one of the preeminent thinkers of the 19th century. The two met while Harriet was still married. Two years after her first husband died, Harriet and John married following a 20-year friendship. She read and commented on all of his material, and he considered her an equal collaborator. What essays did Harriet write during their marriage? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.Jane Austen (1775-1817) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bottom of the ninth— The final and critical moment or moments of a tense, important, or desperate situation. It refers to the ninth inning of baseball, the "bottom" of which is batted by the home team as their last chance to win the game. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cranberry Day Festival (2019)Wampanoag Indians on Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, celebrate Cranberry Day, their most significant annual holiday, on the second Tuesday in October. In earlier times this festival lasted several days as people harvested the cranberries and used them in festive dishes. These days, children get the day off from school to join the day's activities, which include picking cranberries, a lunchtime bonfire during which stories of previous Cranberry Days and other community legends are told, and a celebration in the evening with dancing, singing, and a huge potluck meal. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: punchpunch buggy - A game in which the first player to call "punch buggy!" on sighting a Volkswagen Beetle gets to punch the other person. More... doust - A firm blow or punch. More... pack a punch, pack it in - Pack a punch is of U.S. origin from the 1920s, as is pack it in. More... punch - Has an obscure origin, but stories include it being from Sanskrit panca, "five/five kinds of," as the drink had five ingredients. More... | |