Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, June 7, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Uncountable Nouns and PronounsJust as uncountable nouns cannot take the indefinite articles "a" or "an" because there is not "one" of them, it is equally incorrect to use third-person plural pronouns with them. Why? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Mirror BoxesBetween 50 and 80 percent of amputees experience phantom limb sensations, feelings that an absent limb is still present. These sensations are often painful. In the early 1990s, neurologist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran hypothesized that the phenomenon might be caused by changes in the brain rather than in peripheral nerves and developed the mirror box to alleviate the discomfort. A simple device, it creates the visual illusion that the phantom limb has reappeared. How is this believed to help? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Supreme Court Decides Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)In 1961, Estelle Griswold, executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, opened a birth control clinic for women in deliberate defiance of an 1879 law outlawing the use or distribution of contraceptives. She was arrested and fined. Her appeal made it to the US Supreme Court, which stated in a landmark 1965 decision that married couples had a right to "marital privacy," which included the right to use birth control. When was the same right extended to unwed individuals? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George Szell (1897)Szell was a Hungarian-born conductor and pianist who immigrated to the US during WWII. Having already conducted many European orchestras, he soon became the principal conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1946, he took over the Cleveland Orchestra and, by means of his famously dictatorial approach, built it into one of the most respected ensembles in the world, famed for its precision. Nearly 20 years after Szell's death, who complained that he still got credit when the orchestra did well? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is easy to find fault, if one has that disposition. There was once a man who, not being able to find any other fault with his coal, complained that there were too many prehistoric toads in it.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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money laundering— The criminal act or practice of processing large amounts of money obtained through illegitimate or illegal means, often in small increments through banks or other legitimate businesses, so as to conceal its source or origins. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 International Carillon Festival (2018)The International Carillon Festival in Springfield, Illinois, attracts carillonneurs from France, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, New Zealand, and the Netherlands as well as from the United States. The centerpiece of the festival is the Rees Memorial Carillon. The festival, instituted in 1962, features the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Schubert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Edvard Grieg, and other compositions arranged for the carillon. The performances take place in Springfield's Washington Park, where listeners can sit the recommended 300 or more feet away. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: shootingbiathlon - Consists of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. More... off-hand - Meaning "at once, straightway," it probably originally referred to shooting without a rest or support; as "unpremeditated," it is attested to 1719. More... potshot - Comes from shooting an animal purely for food (pot), rather than for simple conquest. More... scope - First meant "target for shooting," from Greek skopos, "target." More... | |