Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, April 28, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
egocentric
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Grading and Non-Grading AdverbsAdverbs of degree can be mild, medium, strong, or absolute in how they describe the intensity, degree, or extent of the word they modify. Adverbs that are mild, medium, or strong are known as "grading adverbs." What are "non-grading adverbs"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Tulip ManiaIt takes seven years to grow a tulip from seed, and the bulb can only be uprooted in the summer months. Therefore, when the Dutch tulip market exploded in fall of 1636, few tulips physically changed hands before the futures market collapsed. According to some reports, at the height of the market, single bulbs were selling for more than houses before they even sprouted. It was the first documented speculation bubble. Why were the most expensive varieties those afflicted with a certain virus? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Charles de Gaulle Resigns as President of France (1969)A celebrated general and statesman, de Gaulle was elected first president of France's Fifth Republic—a system of government with broad executive powers—in 1959. He helped write the constitution and pushed for direct popular election of the president. The mass civil unrest of May 1968 by students and workers almost toppled his government, and in 1969 de Gaulle was defeated in a referendum on constitutional amendments and resigned. He died just a year later. Whom did he bar from his funeral? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Nelle Harper Lee (1926)The daughter of an Alabama lawyer, Lee studied law before publishing her first novel in 1960. To Kill a Mockingbird, the story of a white lawyer who defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white girl, immediately found national acclaim. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was adapted for film the next year, but Lee largely stayed out of the spotlight. What did she once write in response to a school board's decision to ban her novel? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 In any really good subject, one has only to probe deep enough to come to tears.Edith Wharton (1862-1937) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
not any hard feelings— No ill will; no resentment or anger. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Floralia (2025)An ancient Roman festival held in honor of Flora, the goddess of flowers and gardens, the Floralia was first instituted in 238 BCE. In 173 BCE, the Roman Senate made it an annual festival extending for six days—starting on the anniversary of the founding of Flora's temple. Traditionally, the first person to lay a garland on the temple's statue of Flora was destined to have good fortune. The Floralia, which featured small statues of Flora that children would decorate with flowers, is believed to have been the precedent for Christian-oriented May Day celebrations. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: shorterstore - A shortened version of the obsolete astor, "stock of provisions, supplies." More... alligator - From Spanish el lagarto, "the lizard," which may have come from Latin lacerta; the alligator has a shorter, blunter snout than a crocodile. More... telescopic umbrella - An umbrella that can become shorter. More... dog watch - A two-hour watch on board a ship, it is based on dog sleep, the light or fitful sleep typical of dogs (a catnap being even shorter). More... | |