Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, October 4, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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indubitable
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining ParticiplesParticiples are words formed from verbs that can function as adjectives or gerunds. Participles can also be used to form which verb tenses? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 H.M.Henry Molaison, better known as H.M., was an American memory disorder patient whose case played a key role in the development of theories regarding the link between brain function and memory. In 1953, after parts of his brain were removed to treat his otherwise intractable epilepsy, it was found that he was unable to form new long-term memories. He thus became the subject of numerous studies on brain function and amnesia. What did scientists learn about memory by studying H.M.? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Gutzon Borglum Begins Sculpting Mount Rushmore (1927)Mount Rushmore National Memorial, a massive carving of four US presidents' heads, each about 60 ft (18 m) high, on the side of a South Dakota mountain, took 400 workers 14 years to complete. Its designer, sculptor Gutzon Borglum—who had previously worked on a Confederate memorial on Georgia's Stone Mountain—died before Rushmore was completed, and his unfinished Hall of Records behind the heads is off-limits to the public. What nearby mountain sculpture will dwarf Rushmore when completed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Rutherford B. Hayes (1822)After fighting in the Union army in the American Civil War, Hayes served in the US House of Representatives and then as governor of Ohio. In 1876, he won the Republican nomination for president. His opponent, Samuel Tilden, won a larger popular vote, but the election was so close that a special commission had to decide the issue. It eventually ruled in Hayes's favor. What concessions did Hayes make as part of a secret compromise reached with Southerners during the electoral dispute? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Influence, n.: In politics, a visionary quo given in exchange for a substantial quid.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a joy to behold— A thing, event, or experience that creates a profound sense of joy or elation in the spectator. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (2023)In Assisi, Italy, the feast of St. Francis commemorates the saint's transition to the afterlife. For two days the entire town is illuminated by oil lamps burning consecrated oil brought from a different Italian town each year. A parchment in St. Francis's handwriting is taken to the top of the Santa Maria degli Angeli basilica and the people are blessed by the pope's representative. In the United States, people bring their pets to church to be blessed on St. Francis's feast day, because of his love for animals as expressed in his Canticle of Creatures. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: prosperityland of milk and honey - In the Bible, a land of prosperity and plenty promised by God to the Israelites. More... pumpkin time - The end of prosperity and a return to normal. More... thrift - First meant "acquired wealth, prosperity, success." More... welfare - Originally the phrase wel fare—first meaning "happiness" or "prosperity." More... | |