Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 23, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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heliotherapy
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Exclamation Points with OnomatopoeiasWhen we use onomatopoeias (words that phonetically imitate particular sounds), we can use an exclamation point to emphasize the intensity of the sound. Where is the exclamation point placed in the sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 John DowlandDowland was an English composer who was unsurpassed in his day as a lutenist. Refused a court position in 1594 and believing his adoptive Catholicism to have been the cause, he left for the Continent and took a position at the Danish court. Having made a name for himself in the music world, he was finally appointed lutenist to the English court in 1612. He published three collections of songs, including about 90 works for solo lute and some 80 lute songs. Why do some suspect that he was a spy? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The "Gimli Glider": Air Canada Flight Runs Out of Fuel Mid-Flight (1983)The "Gimli Glider" is the nickname given to Air Canada Flight 143, which ran out of fuel on a routine flight from Montreal to Edmonton in 1983. The crew was able to glide the aircraft safely to an emergency landing at a retired airstrip in Gimli, Manitoba, even through part of the runway had been converted into a racetrack and a large event was being held there at the time. Amazingly, no passengers or bystanders suffered any serious injuries. Why did the plane run out of fuel? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Babcock (1900)Prior to his death in 2010, at age 109, Babcock was Canada's last known surviving veteran of World War I. He joined the army at 15 by lying about his age. When he was discovered to be too young for combat, he was given labor jobs and was later transferred to England, where he continued his training in the Young Soldiers Battalion. Because he never actually fought on the front lines, he was uncomfortable with his fame as a veteran. At what age did Babcock finally earn his high school diploma? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One cannot find peace in work or in pleasure, in the world or in a convent, but only in one's soul.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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over the hills and far away— To or at some distant, remote point or location. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Warei Taisai (2025)This Japanese festival is held in Uwajimay in late July. Hundreds of ships dock in the harbor, all decorated with flags. In town, there is the parade of the Ushioni, a creature that looks like a combination of a whale and a dragon that is carried through the streets by 15 to 20 young people. Another festival highlight is the Hashiri-komi ceremony, a procession of young people carrying portable shrines called mikoshi into the sea while rockets explode all around them. The Warei Tasai festival dates back to the 18th century and is the highlight of the summer festival season in Ehime Prefecture. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: parentabdicate - Implies a giving up of sovereign power or the evasion of responsibility (as a parent). More... half blood - Relationship through only one parent. More... in loco parentis - Latin for "in the place of a parent." More... patrial - Means having the right to live in the UK through the British birth of a parent or grandparent. More... | |