Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, October 16, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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contentious
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Pronouns as the SubjectPronouns stand in for a person or thing we are speaking about or referring to; they are used to avoid repetition in speech or writing. When the personal pronouns in the subjective case act as substitutes for the subject of the clause or sentence, what are they known as? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Eusapia PalladinoBorn in Italy in 1854, Palladino was a Spiritualist medium who travelled the world hosting séances at which tables seemed to levitate and spirits supposedly appeared. Many notable people—including Pierre Curie and Arthur Conan Doyle—became devotees of her. Despite performing under strict conditions that she could control, Palladino was repeatedly exposed as a fraud who pulled stunts like lifting tables with her feet. This prompted some to hold down her shoes during séances. What did she do then? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 World Food Day (1981)More than 150 countries celebrate World Food Day every year on October 16, the anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. World Food Day aims to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and to promote cooperation in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. It has been observed since 1981 with different themes each year, such as "United against Hunger" and "The Right to Food." What was the theme of the first World Food Day? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 William Orville Douglas (1898)Douglas, a US Supreme Court justice and author, practiced and taught law early in his career, before becoming a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1936. As SEC chairman, he engineered the reorganization of US stock exchanges, instituted measures aimed at protecting small investors, and began government regulation of the sale of securities. In 1939, the president appointed him to the Supreme Court. For what controversial act did Congress attempt to impeach Douglas? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 As a man without forethought scarcely deserves the name of a man, so forethought without reflection is but a metaphorical phrase for the instinct of a beast.Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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filled to the brim— Completely full; teeming; having no room to spare. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Europalia (2024)Since its founding in 1969, the European arts festival known as Europalia has presented a comprehensive survey of the diverse cultural and artistic aspects of a specific country. The first several festivals were devoted to European cultures, but in 1989 the decision was made to devote the festival to a major culture from outside Europe. Most of the festival events take place in Brussels, which include art, photography, and craft exhibitions; theater, dance, and orchestral performances; literary and scientific colloquia; and film retrospectives. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: reputationroorback - A false report made to damage the reputation of a political candidate. More... character, reputation - Character is what one is; reputation is what one is thought to be by others. More... denigrate - From Latin de- and nigare, "blacken," it first meant "make black or dark in color," and came to mean "blacken the reputation of." More... | |