Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 17, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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titivate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Conjunctive Adverbs for Weak ContrastThere are two types of contrast that we can illustrate using conjunctive adverbs. One, known as "weak contrast," is when two clauses are opposing but are not complete opposites. For this type of contrast, we are limited to using only the weaker of the contrasting conjunctive adverbs. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 KohlAncient Egyptians used kohl eyeliner for cosmetic as well as medical reasons, believing that it protected the eyes from the Sun. It remains popular in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East today. Though homemade preparations are made from soot, commercial kohl products often contain galena—also known as lead sulfide—and have the potential to expose users to lead. Many Indian parents line their babies' eyes with kohl or apply a dot of it behind their babies' ears to protect them from what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Wright Brothers Make Their Famous Flight (1903)Both excellent mechanics, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright built and repaired bicycles before turning their attention to flying machines. They spent years designing and testing gliders and also built a powerful four-cylinder engine and an efficient propeller. In 1903, after several failed attempts, the brothers succeeded in making the first controlled, sustained flights in a power-driven airplane. How long did the first, history-making flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, last? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet (1706)The wife of a French marquis, du Châtelet defied convention in both her personal and professional life. She was a mathematician and physicist and wrote a number of scientific treatises as well as a translation of Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica. She had several extramarital affairs—the most enduring of which was with philosopher and writer Voltaire, who once described her as "a great man whose only fault was being a woman." How did she once think her way out of a gambling debt? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Fear is sharp-sighted, and can see things underground, and much more in the skies.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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lock (someone) up and throw away the key— To incarcerate someone in prison forever or indefinitely. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade (2024)The Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade is a nightly parade of boats at Newport Beach, California. More than 150 boats of all kinds, wildly decorated with lights depicting Santa Claus, snowmen, and other symbols of winter, join the parade. Some boats carry huge inflated figures, and many play music. The floating parades started in 1908 as a Fourth of July spectacular. In 1946, the city put a tree and carolers on a barge and towed it around the harbor, and that began the current December parades. Today, about a million spectators watch them during the festival. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: notchcrenelation, crenelle - A crenelation (from Latin crena, "notch") is a series of indentations or loopholes around the top of a castle, battlement, or wall—with each indentation being a crenelle (or crenel). More... carf, kerf - A cut or notch in timber is a carf or kerf—which are also used to describe the width of such a cut. More... dent - As in "notch," it comes from the French word for tooth; its original meaning was "blow, stroke" in general. More... score - First a notch used to keep count, as on a stick. More... | |