Daily Content Archive

(as of Wednesday, March 3, 2021)
Word of the Day

liniment

Definition:(noun) A medicinal liquid that is rubbed into the skin to relieve muscular stiffness and pain.
Synonyms:embrocation
Usage: The veterinarian instructed me to apply the liniment to the horse's sore leg twice a day.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Using the Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous is often used to talk about something that began happening in the past (anytime "before now") and which is still happening (unfinished) in the present. We usually specify the duration of time involved, especially using which two prepositions? More...
Article of the Day

Defining the Meter

Adopted in France in the late 18th century, the meter is used today by much of the technologically developed world, making it an extremely successful example of both standardization and cooperation. However, the definition of the meter has changed several times. It was originally based, somewhat impractically, on a fraction of the Earth's circumference and was later defined as the distance between two scratches on a bar of platinum-iridium alloy. What is the most recent definition of the meter? More...
This Day in History

George Bizet's Carmen Premieres in Paris (1875)

Though it is today one of the most popular operas ever written, Carmen was initially met with such scathing reviews that the opera house had to give away tickets to get people to see it. Shortly after its disastrous premiere, its author, Bizet, died of a heart attack and the director of the struggling opera house resigned. Later that year, however, Carmen opened in Vienna to wide acclaim. Why did critics initially hate Bizet's story of a soldier's doomed love for a wild Gypsy girl? More...
Today's Birthday

George Mortimer Pullman (1831)

Pullman was a successful American industrialist and the inventor of the railroad sleeping car. In 1893, he built a company town for his workers in Illinois, and it was showcased in the World's Fair as a grand social experiment. The next year, the town of Pullman was the scene of a violent workers' strike that nearly halted US rail traffic. When Pullman died in 1897, he had to be buried in a massive steel-and-concrete vault to keep activists from disinterring his body. What happened to his town? More...
Quotation of the Day
There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.

Washington Irving (1783-1859)

Idiom of the Day

make a mark

To do something that makes one famous or successful; to do something that is very important or meaningful. More...
Today's Holiday

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (2025)

The nation's largest livestock show, with more than 35,000 entries, is held in the famous Astrodome of Houston, Texas. The show is a reminder of the 19th-century days when Houston's shipping trade was based on timber, cotton, and cattle. Things get under way with a downtown parade, and the agenda then includes celebrity entertainers, pig races, and a chili cookoff. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: trim

trim - To maintain an aircraft at a steady altitude. More...

ruche - A frill of gathered ribbon as a trimming. More...

falbala - The trimming or flounce on a woman's petticoat. More...

soutache - The band trimming on robes and pajamas. More...

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