Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 4, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
lettered
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Linking VerbsLinking verbs (also known as copulas or copular verbs) are used to describe the state of being of the subject of a clause. What is the most common linking verb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Business PlotIn 1933, retired US Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler claimed that business tycoons were plotting to use a veterans' organization to overthrow President Franklin D Roosevelt and install a fascist dictator. The media ridiculed the claim, but a congressional committee concluded that his allegations were credible. Although historians question whether a coup was close to execution, most agree that a political conspiracy was at least contemplated. What businessmen were implicated in the plot? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Led Zeppelin Officially Disbands (1980)On September 25, 1980, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham asphyxiated on his own vomit and died after a day of heavy drinking. Two months later, the remaining members of Led Zeppelin issued a press release stating that the band would not continue without Bonham. For decades, rumors of the band's imminent reunion persisted, but the surviving members made only sporadic appearances to perform together. In 2007, they reunited for a single concert as Led Zeppelin. Who played drums in Bonham's place? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Thomas Carlyle (1795)Carlyle was a Scottish historian and writer. His adherence to Calvinist values despite his loss of faith in traditional Christianity proved appealing to many Victorians, and he gained notice with his first major work, Sartor, Resartus. Simultaneously factual and fictional, the work forces the reader to confront the problem of where "truth" is to be found and was initially considered bizarre and incomprehensible by some. It had some success in the US, however, where it was admired by whom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 By a curious confusion, many modern critics have passed from the proposition that a masterpiece may be unpopular to the other proposition that unless it is unpopular it cannot be a masterpiece.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
the wrong crowd— A group of people, typically peers, who partake in and elicit immoral, criminal, and/or dangerous behavior and attitudes. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 St. Barbara's Day (2024)Scholars doubt that St. Barbara existed as more than a legend that emerged during the 2nd century. In parts of France, Germany, and Syria, St. Barbara's Day is considered the beginning of the Christmas season. In southern France, it is customary to set out dishes holding grains of wheat soaked in water on sunny window sills. If the "St. Barbara's grain" grows quickly, it means a good year for crops. There is a similar custom in Germany and the Czech and Slovak republics with cherry branches. In Syria, St. Barbara's Day is for feasting and bringing food to the poor. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: stimulateaperitif, appetizer - An aperitif is a drink to stimulate the appetite and an appetizer is a food that does this before a meal. More... condiment - From Latin condimentum, from condire, "to pickle, preserve"; condiments are food substances used to heighten the natural flavor of foods, to stimulate the appetite, to aid digestion, or preserve certain foods. More... innervate, enervate - Innervate means "to stimulate or give nervous energy," the opposite of enervate. More... stimulate - From Latin stimulus, "pointed stick for goading animals." More... | |