Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, July 9, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Choosing the Correct Demonstrative Adjective"This," "That," "These," and "Those" are the four common demonstrative adjectives in English. Which ones are used to refer to people and objects that are plural? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 KitsuneIn ancient Japan, foxes and humans lived in close proximity, giving rise to many legends about the animals, known in Japanese as kitsune. A common subject of both traditional and modern Japanese folklore, the kitsune is depicted as an intelligent being possessing magical abilities that increase with age and wisdom. It is said that the more tails a kitsune has—as many as nine—the wiser and more powerful it is. What is said to happen when a kitsune gets its ninth tail? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US President Zachary Taylor Dies in Office (1850)On a hot 4th of July in Washington, DC, Taylor—who had been US president for just 16 months—enjoyed a cool snack of cherries and milk. Five days later, he was dead. The official cause of death was listed as gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines that can be caused by food poisoning. His remains were exhumed in 1991 and showed no evidence of foul play. According to one historian, Taylor could have recovered had he not been bled, blistered, and given what cocktail of drugs? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Fanny Fern (1811)Fanny Fern was the pseudonym of Sara Willis Parton, an immensely popular American columnist and novelist known for her conversational writing style and emphasis on the everyday concerns of middle-class women. Though she had struggled to support her children after her first husband died and caused a scandal by ending her unhappy second marriage, she persevered and by 1855 commanded the unprecedented sum of $100 a week for her New York Ledger column. What famous saying is attributed to her? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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| Felicity, the companion of content, is rather found in our own breasts than in the enjoyment of external things; And I firmly believe it requires but a little philosophy to make a man happy in whatsoever state he is. This consists in a full resignation to the will of Providence. John Filson (1747-1788) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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on (someone's) wrong side— Displeasing to someone; provoking someone's anger, contempt, or dismissal. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nunavut Day (2018)Canada's northernmost territory of Nunavut was established on July 9, 1993, through a land claim signed by the national government and the Inuit of the Nunavut Settlement Area. Most of the day's activities take place in Nunavut's hub and capital city, Iqaluit. Festivities include barbeques, parades, traditional Inuit games, and feasts featuring local cuisine of caribou, walrus, and arctic char. In recent years, the day's program has also included organized tournaments of cribbage, checkers, and Scrabble. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: refrainballade - A verse or poem made up of three stanzas of equal length with a recurrent line or refrain at the end of each of the stanzas. More... condone - From Latin condonare, "refrain from punishing," it does not mean "approve of, endorse"; it means "let something pass without interference even though you probably disapprove," or "pardon, forgive, overlook." More... burden, refrain, chorus - The burden is the main theme or gist of a speech, book, or argument—or the refrain or chorus of a song. More... deport - The earliest sense of deport was "bear with; refrain." More... | |