Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, June 3, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Evaluative Adverbs that Indicate a Degree of CertaintyThere are several types of evaluative adverbs, which can be classified according to their function. We can use evaluative adverbs to state how certain we are about something. "Obviously" is an evaluative adverb that we can use in this way. What are others? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Blue MoonThough the term is often used metaphorically to describe a rare event, a blue moon is actually, in astronomical terms, the second full moon within a calendar month or the third full moon in a three-month calendrical season that has four full moons. While most years have 12 full moons that occur approximately once a month, each solar year has about 11 days more than the lunar year. These extra days accumulate, and, every few years, an "extra" full moon appears. When is the next blue moon? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 "Casey at the Bat" Published in the San Francisco Examiner (1888)"Casey at the Bat" was one of the most popular poems in late 19th-century America. Recited in vaudeville performances and later taken up by many celebrities, the poem tells the story of an overconfident baseball player—the "mighty Casey"—who strikes out while trying to show off. Ernest Thayer, who wrote the poem, avoided acknowledging authorship for many years because he thought it was embarrassingly bad. Which two real-life towns have laid claim to being the Mudville mentioned in the poem? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Reverend John Hale (1636)Hale was a church pastor in nearby Beverly, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials in the late 17th century. Initially, Hale supported the prosecutions of the alleged witches. Once his second wife was accused of witchcraft, however, he had a change of heart, denouncing the practice of witch hunts in his book A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. A fictional portrayal of Hale appears in Arthur Miller's famed play The Crucible. What happened to Hale's wife? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity.George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
a mixed picture— A portrayal of a situation highlighting both positive and negative aspects of its nature or status. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Charlottetown Festival (2024)The Charlottetown Festival is devoted entirely to musicals by Canadians. Held from June through mid-October on Prince Edward Island, the festival presents three full-scale musicals every year. One of these is always Anne of Green Gables, a story about rural life on the island at the turn of the century, written by island-born novelist Lucy Maud Montgomery. The festival also offers plays for children, Sunday evening pop concerts, and a series of short plays and musical events. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: maintainedpetite maison - A love nest or a residence maintained for a mistress. More... standing army - A permanent army maintained in time of peace and war. More... parochial school - A school established and maintained by a religious body, from Latin parochialis, "of a parish." More... radio silence - A status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area stop transmitting (sometimes limited to certain frequency bands) for the period of time during which this status exists. More... | |