Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 22, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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go-between
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Verbs and Indirect ObjectsOnly verbs that express an action being relayed to or done for another person or thing can take indirect objects. What are these verbs called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Human MigrationHomo sapiens began migrating out of Africa and across Eurasia and Australia about 70,000 years ago. These first human migrations were caused by changing climate, landscape, and food supply. Contemporary migration is predominantly economically motivated and the product of wide income disparities between different countries. In 2010, the number of international migrants was estimated at 214 million. If this number continues to grow at the same pace, it could reach how many million by 2050? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Farmer Discovers Howe Caverns (1842)Howe Caverns is a cave system in east-central New York that lies 156 ft (48 m) below ground. It was discovered in 1842, when farmer Lester Howe began to wonder why his cows all seemed to gather near one particular hill on hot summer days. Upon investigating, he felt a cool breeze blowing from a hole in the hill. He and a neighbor began to dig out the hole and uncovered the entrance to a cave. They explored it extensively and opened it for tours the next year. Why are there boats in the cave? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859)Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer noted for his tales about fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally a doctor, Conan Doyle studied under the sharp-eyed Dr. Joseph Bell, who was noted for his ability to draw accurate conclusions about people through observation. Bell was thus the model for Holmes, who appeared for the first time in 1887. Conan Doyle "killed off" Holmes in 1893 but was forced by public demand to resurrect him. What famous unsolved hoax might the author have perpetrated? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.E. M. Forster (1879-1970) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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meet trouble halfway— To worry, grow anxious, or distress oneself unnecessarily over something that has yet to happen. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Hay-on-Wye Festival of Literature (2025)This celebration of words and language has been held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, since 1988. It offers 10 days of comedy, theater and musical performances in addition to conversations and readings by poets and fiction writers. The festival regularly features some of the most widely known Welsh, Irish, English, European, and American writers in the world; musical performances have included the Welsh National Opera Male Choir and the English Shakespeare Company. A series of master classes in poetry, short story, and screenwriting has also been established for young writers. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: squeezeanguish, anxious, anxiety - Anguish, anxious, and anxiety come from Latin angere, "to choke, squeeze, strangle." More... kvetch - To complain chronically or habitually, from Yiddish kvetshn, "pinch, squeeze; complain." More... squash - As a verb, it is an alteration of quash, and means, generally, to "crush, squeeze, or suppress." More... tapioca - Comes from Tupi-Guarani tipi, "residue," and ok/og, "squeeze out." More... | |