Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, March 6, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ailment
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
How to Form Comparative AdverbsComparative adverbs, like comparative adjectives, are used to describe differences and similarities between two things. We form comparative adverbs either by adding the word "more" (or "less") before the base adverb, or by adding what ending to the base adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Plum Island Animal Disease CenterThough it is located just off the coast of heavily populated Long Island, New York, Plum Island has no sizable civilian population of its own. Any wild mammal found there is killed on sight. That is because the island is home to a federal research center that investigates animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever. Fueling public imagination about the island, several unidentified animal carcasses have washed up on nearby beaches—including what notable "monster" in 2008? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Walter Cronkite Signs off CBS Evening News (1981)During his career as a broadcast journalist, "Uncle Walter," as Cronkite was affectionately known, was identified in public opinion polls as the most trusted man in America. He was managing editor and anchorman of The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite for almost 20 years and covered the first televised US presidential election, the 1969 moon landing, and the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. In 1981, he signed off for the last time with what famous phrase? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Louis Francis "Lou" Costello (1906)Costello was an American comedian who, along with Bud Abbott, formed the comedic duo of Abbott and Costello. From 1931 to 1957, Costello played a bumbling, cheery dimwit alongside Abbott's "straight man" in various stage, radio, and TV routines, the most famous of which was their "Who's on First?" skit. Regarded as the archetypal team of burlesque comedy, the pair starred in movies such as Buck Privates and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein. Why did the two eventually part ways? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 I have outlived certain desires. I have lost friends, some by death...others through sheer inability to cross the street. I am not so gifted as at one time seemed likely.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
man the fort— To mind or take charge of a location during the time in which it is unattended by another. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Alamo Day (2025)In 1836, a garrison of Texans took a stand against the Mexican Army at a Franciscan mission in San Antonio, named after the grove of cottonwood trees (alamo in Spanish) that surrounded it. Led by William Barret Travis, the band of volunteers was beseiged for 13 days by Mexican soldiers. Travis refused to surrender, and the Alamo was overrun on the morning of March 6. Only women and children survived. The heroic action at the Alamo gave the Texans time to organize the forces necessary to save their independence movement. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: pancasserole - Came from casse, "pan" or "ladle," which probably comes from Greek kuathos, "serving cup"; casserole is a diminutive of casse, "spoonlike container" (cassette is also a diminutive of casse). More... paella - The rice dish is Spanish for "frying pan," from Latin patella, "little pan." More... pan, brain pan - The upper part of the skull has been called the pan or brain pan. More... | |