Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, August 15, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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foppish
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using the Middle VoiceThe so-called middle voice is an approximate type of grammatical voice in which the subject both performs and receives the action expressed by the verb. Because the agent is also the receiver of the action in the middle voice, what can we do to clarify this connection? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Gliese 581 dDiscovered in 2007, Gliese 581 d is a planet that scientists have speculated could be habitable. It is approximately 20 light years away from Earth and is classified as a super-Earth because it is about 6 to 13 times more massive. It appears to be on the outskirts of, but still within, its star's habitable zone, meaning that it could have liquid water oceans. In 2009, messages were sent in the direction of Gliese 581 d. What is the minimum amount of time it would take for a response to arrive? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 King Macbeth Is Killed (1057)Macbeth was originally a governor and military commander under Scottish King Duncan I, whose ancestors had seized power from the ancestors of Macbeth's wife. Macbeth ascended to the throne by killing Duncan in battle in 1040 and ruled Scotland for the next 18 years. In 1057, Macbeth was mortally wounded at the Battle of Lumphanan by Duncan's son Malcolm. Malcolm was crowned king the following year. Is Shakespeare's famous tragedy about Macbeth historically accurate? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir Walter Scott (1771)Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott is widely regarded as both the inventor of the historical novel and one of the genre's greatest writers. His extremely popular "Waverley" series consists of more than two dozen romances of Scottish life. The first, published in 1814, was an immediate success, yet Scott continued to write anonymously until 1827. In 1825, his business nearly failed. By what means did he attempt to stave off bankruptcy, eventually achieving financial solvency after his own death? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A man that hath no virtue in himself, ever envieth virtue in others; for men's minds will either feed upon their own good, or upon others' evil; and who wanteth the one will prey upon the other.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be not short of a penny (or two)— To be exceptionally wealthy; to have no concerns regarding money. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Dozynki Festival (2025)For many Christians around the world, August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption. But in Poland, it is also a time for celebrating the harvest. During the wheat harvest festival known as Dozynki Pod Debami, or Festival under the Oaks, the reapers make wreaths out of grain, flowers, nuts, and corn. When they present their wreaths to the master and mistress of the estate on which the wheat is grown, they are invited in for a feast, which is followed by dancing. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pardouble eagle - Three strokes under par on a single golf hole. Also called an albatross. More... par - Latin, literally "equal, equality." More... double bogey - Two strokes over par. More... birdie - The golf term birdie is a diminutive of bird, "first-rate thing," as it is one stroke under par for a hole. More... | |