Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, November 23, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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calumet
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Causative Verbs and TenseCausative verbs are followed by a noun or pronoun and a non-causative verb in either the infinitive or base form. Because the non-causative verb is always in the infinitive form, the tense of the sentence depends on the conjugation of the causative verb. Causative verbs can be used in what tenses? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The TarThe tar is a long-necked lute found in Iran and throughout the Caucasus region. Its music was believed to cure a number of physical maladies and induce philosophical moods that compel listeners to reflect upon life. The tar's double-bowl shape is carved from mulberry wood, and a thin membrane of stretched lambskin covers the top. It has a number of adjustable frets as well as three double courses of strings. Tar, Persian for string, is the root for the names of what other instruments? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Hijacking of EgyptAir Flight 648 (1985)Minutes after taking off from an Athens airport on November 23, 1985, EgyptAir Flight 648 was hijacked by five Palestinian terrorists. The plane was forced to land in Malta, where authorities attempted to negotiate with the hijackers. The terrorists shot two Israelis and three Americans before Egyptian commandos launched a disastrous raid in which nearly 60 hostages were killed. Remarkably, three of the passengers shot by the terrorists survived. How did one of the terrorists almost escape? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Arthur Adolph "Harpo" Marx (1888)Harpo was a member of the American comedy team known as the Marx Brothers. The brothers enjoyed success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from the early 1900s to about 1950. Harpo never spoke during their performances and instead blew a horn, whistled, or mimed to communicate. He also got laughs with his prop-laden sight gags, many of which involved the seemingly infinite number of odd items he managed to produce from his topcoat's oversized pockets. How did he get his nickname? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears.Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be kept in the dark (about something)— To be kept uninformed (about something); to be excluded from full knowledge or disclosure (of something). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. George's Day (Republic of Georgia) (2024)Nothing much is known for certain about St. George, but he is popularly known in medieval legend for slaying a vicious dragon that was besieging a town in Cappadocia. To this day, St. George is often depicted with a dragon. St. George's Day, sometimes referred to as Georgemas, has been observed as a religious feast as well as a holiday since the 13th century. It is celebrated on November 23 as a national holiday in the Republic of Georgia. A festival is held at the cathedral of Mtskheta, the old capital and religious center of Georgia. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slaughterfatstock - Livestock fattened for slaughter. More... massacre - Comes from Latin mazacrium/masacrium, "slaughter." More... slaughter - From Old Norse, meaning "butcher's meat." More... homicide, murder, manslaughter - The general term for the killing of a person by another is homicide; murder is either the intentional killing or the malicious killing of another, while manslaughter is the unintentional, accidental killing of another through carelessness. More... | |