Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, August 16, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pernicious
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Quotation Marks and TitlesWe use italics or occasionally underlining to indicate the title of a complete body of creative work (such as a novel, music album, play, or film). In what instances do we use quotation marks to indicate a title? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Dead Man's SwitchA dead man's switch is an emergency brake that automatically activates to stop a vehicle or machine in the event that the operator becomes incapacitated. This sort of safety measure became necessary with the advent of electric trains, since they cut the number of required operators down to one, and has become standard in numerous devices, including snowblowers, lawn mowers, and saws. Though developed as a fail-safe, a dead man's switch can sometimes be a "fail-deadly," as when built into what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Issue of Sports Illustrated Is Published (1954)The first issue of Sports Illustrated—featuring Milwaukee Braves star Eddie Mathews at bat—was published in 1954. The brainchild of Henry Luce, the founder of Time magazine, it became one of the most influential sports magazines in America. Though Sports Illustrated originally covered a wide range of sports, including hunting and yachting, today it focuses on major sports, such as football and baseball. When was the annual swimsuit issue first published? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Dame Mary Gilmore (1865)Gilmore was a prominent Australian socialist poet and journalist who gained a reputation as a champion of the working class and the oppressed. In the late 1890s, she moved to the New Australia utopian socialist settlement in Paraguay, but she returned to Australia following its failure. In 1908, she became an editor of the Australian Workers' Union newspaper, and she published her first volume of poems two years later. On what denomination of Australian currency does her image and poetry appear? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 My own business always bores me to death. I prefer other people's.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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carry (someone) off their feet— To completely overwhelm someone with enthusiasm, ardor, or passion. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bennington Battle Day (2025)During the Revolutionary War, Colonel Seth Warner and 350 soldiers from Vermont played a vital role in defeating the British forces who had come to capture the American supply depot at Bennington, Vermont. The anniversary of the fighting that took place along the Walloomsac River on August 16, 1777, is a legal holiday in Vermont, and a 306-foot tower has been erected in the town of Old Bennington, two miles west of Bennington proper. The Bennington Battle Monument State Historic Site hosts historic reenactments and displays on the weekend nearest August 16. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: purposesall intents and purposes - A redundant phrase, created for emphasis. More... blamestorming - An intense discussion for the purposes of placing blame or assigning responsibility for a misdeed or failure. More... celebrant, celebrator, reveler - Celebrants take part in religious ceremonies; celebrators or revelers gather for purposes of revelry. More... teleology - The study of design in nature; the word's basic meaning is "the study of ends or purposes"—attempts to understand the purpose of a natural occurrence by looking at its results. More... | |