Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, October 15, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Verbs that Indicate the FutureBecause modal auxiliary verbs can be quite similar in how they are used, it is sometimes unclear when it's more appropriate to use one instead of another. For instance, "will" and "shall" can both be used to indicate the future. But "shall" can only be used to form the future tense when the subject is in what person? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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| This Day in History | |
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 11-Year-Old Grace Bedell Urges Abraham Lincoln to Grow a Beard (1860)A few weeks before Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the US, 11-year-old Grace Bedell sent him a letter urging him to grow a beard to win over voters. Bedell claimed that "all the ladies like whiskers" and would urge their husbands to vote for a bearded Lincoln. Days later, Lincoln drafted a noncommittal response in which he wondered whether such a change in appearance would be well received. Within months, he was sporting his now-iconic beard. What did he say when he later met Bedell? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Marie Carmichael Stopes (1880)A Scottish paleobotanist whose first marriage was annulled—and allegedly never consummated—Stopes went on to publish a controversial yet highly influential sex manual, Married Love, in 1918. Thereafter, she became a pioneer in the field of family planning, opening the first birth-control clinic in the British Empire in 1921. Stopes helped break down taboos and improve women's reproductive health, but her support of what field of reproductive science has somewhat marred her reputation? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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| Idiom of the Day | |
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a little leery— Cautious, wary, or uncertain of a given person, place, or thing. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kenka Matsuri (2024)The Kenka Matsuri (Roughhouse Festival) takes place October 14-15 in Shirahama, Japan, and thousands flock to the shrine where the festival is held. The roughhousing starts as teams of mikoshi-bearers jostle each other for position in the procession to the Matsubara Hachiman Shrine. Once they reach the shrine, they spin their heavy burden, raise it up high in the air and let it crash to the ground—difficult maneuvers designed to thrill the crowd. The mikoshi engage in a final battle in an open field, where thousands of cheering spectators take sides and and egg them on. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: scrapeerase - From Latin e-, "out," and radere, "scrape." More... raze, razor - Raze, from French raser, "shave close," is from Latin radere, "scrape, scratch"—also giving us razor. More... gride - To scratch, scrape, or cut with a grating sound. More... scrumble - To scrape or scratch (something) out of or from. More... | |