Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, August 25, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
edification
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Defining Compound-Complex SentencesCompound-complex sentences are one of the four main sentence structures. They are made up of two independent clauses and how many dependent clauses? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The NecktieA necktie is a narrow fabric band of varying length worn around the neck and tied in a knot or bow close to the throat. The modern tie, ascot, and bowtie are descended from the 17th c. cravat. Originally, the four-in-hand necktie was cut on the square and had square ends. The bias-cut necktie, introduced in 1926, allowed the tie to fall evenly from the knot without twisting. Using mathematical modeling, researchers have discovered 85 possible necktie knots. How many are "aesthetically pleasing"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 WWII: The Liberation of Paris (1944)The Liberation of Paris is considered the last battle of the Normandy Campaign to free France from German occupation. In July, about a month after the Allied invasions of southern France and Normandy, Allied ground troops finally broke out of the beachheads and began a rapid advance across northern France. With help from the French resistance, Free French and US forces and liberated Paris in August. Why did the German military governor of Paris disobey Hitler's order to leave the city in ruins? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Althea Gibson (1927)Gibson, a US tennis player, was the first African-American woman to compete on the world tennis tour. Though tennis had essentially been segregated until that time, she was finally given an opportunity to play at the US Championships in 1950. Having broken the color barrier, she went on to become the first black person to win Wimbledon. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971. In 1964, Gibson became the first African-American player in what other sports organization? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends.Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
leather-lunged— (used before a noun) Having an extremely or inordinately loud or strong voice, as of someone with very robust lungs. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Grasmere Sports (2024)This annual event in England's Lake District began in the 1800s to encourage Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling, but it has since expanded to include other traditional Lake District sports. Fell running (a fell is a highland plateau), another traditional sport, is an all-out race to the top of the nearest mountain and back. Hound trailing, which reflects the Lake District's importance as a center for fox hunting, is done on foot with packs of hounds that run across the fells after their prey. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: madgale - A very strong wind, probably related to Old Norse galinn, "frantic, mad." More... mad as a hatter - Refers to the fact that hat makers suffered mental illness in the old days when they got mercury poisoning from treating fur. More... madding - In "far from the madding crowd," madding is a poetic survival meaning "wild, furious, raving, mad." More... rabid, rabies - Rabid and rabies come from Latin rabere, "be mad." More... | |