Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, February 28, 2025)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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trounce
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Monotransitive VerbsA transitive verb is by definition a verb that takes an object. Most verbs are "monotransitive," meaning they only take one object. However, some verbs can take two objects in a sentence. What are these verbs called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Skating MinisterThe Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch is an oil painting better known as The Skating Minister. Completed in the 1790s, the work was practically unknown until 1949, but it is now one of Scotland's most famous paintings. Although it is traditionally attributed to Scottish portrait painter Sir Henry Raeburn, some have argued that the painting was actually made by French artist Henri-Pierre Danloux. What evidence do they cite to support these claims? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 DuPont Scientist Wallace Carothers Invents Nylon (1935)Though his struggles with mental illness made him initially reject a lucrative job with DuPont, chemist Wallace Carothers accepted the offer in the late 1920s and enjoyed much success there. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the invention of nylon, which rapidly gained widespread use in an array of products. First used to make toothbrush bristles, nylon was soon replacing silk in the parachutes and flak vests of American WWII combatants and in women's stockings. How did nylon get its name? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Linus Carl Pauling (1901)An American chemist, Pauling was the first person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes: one for chemistry in 1954 and one for peace in 1962. He was one of the first to study molecular structure using quantum mechanics, and he made discoveries in biochemistry and medicine. In the 1950s, he became concerned about nuclear weapons testing and radioactive fallout and wrote an appeal—signed by thousands of scientists—to halt such tests. What publication called his peace prize "A Weird Insult from Norway"? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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miss the cut— In golf, to fail to match or better the score necessary to remain in the final two rounds of a four-round tournament, thus resulting in elimination. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kalevala Day (2025)The Kalevala is Finland's national epic poem, researched and transcribed by Dr. Elias Lönnrot. Lönnrot and his assistants traveled throughout the country, asking people to tell them whatever they could remember about the folklore surrounding Kalevala, the "Land of Heroes." On February 28, 1835, after years of research, Lönnrot signed the preface to the first edition of the poem. This event marked a turning point in Finnish literature; up to this point, little had been written in the Finnish language. Lönnrot is honored with parades and concerts on this day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: witchtroll - Originally a witch or sorceress. More... fly-by-night - Said to be an old term of reproach to a woman signifying that she was a witch, and was extended to "anyone who departs hastily from a recent activity," especially while owing money. More... hag - First meant "witch." More... witch - In Old English, it was actually wicca and originally (c. 890) was a man who practiced magic or sorcery, who we now call a wizard; by the year 1000, witch came to be defined as "a female magician or sorceress." More... | |