Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, September 27, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
elegy
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Modal Verbs that Indicate PossibilityBecause modal auxiliary verbs can be quite similar in how they are used, it is sometimes unclear when it's more appropriate to use one instead of another. For instance, we use "may," and "might" to express a possibility. Which of these verbs tends to express less certainty or a lower likelihood? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Siege TowerDating to antiquity, siege towers were large, portable structures that aided soldiers in scaling defensive walls and shielded them as they did so. The massive towers were filled with soldiers and then wheeled up to the walls of a besieged fortress, whereupon gangplanks would be lowered to allow the invading force access. Archers and catapults were often positioned on top of the towers so that they could fire upon enemies during an assault. What protected the wooden towers from flaming arrows? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Pope Urban VII Dies Just 13 Days into Papacy (1590)Urban VII was chosen to succeed Sixtus V as pope on September 15, 1590. His death from malaria 13 days later made his the shortest papal reign in history. His very short time as pope nevertheless gave rise to the world's first known public smoking ban when he threatened to excommunicate anyone who "took tobacco in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe, or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose." Who succeeded him? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Grazia Deledda (1871)Influenced by the verismo—"realism"—school, Nobel Prize-winning Italian novelist Grazia Deledda wrote her first stories while just a teen and was still having her works published after her death. Her work is lyric and in part naturalistic and combines sympathy and humor with occasional touches of violence. In her approximately 40 novels, the ancient ways of her native Sardinia often come into conflict with modern mores. What are her most famous works? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The true artist is a man who believes absolutely in himself, because he is absolutely himself.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
likely story— An exclamation of distrust or disbelief in someone's explanation or story. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Feast Day of the French Community (2022)Each of the autonomous regions of Belgium observes its own feast day. Feast Day of the French Community (La fête de la Communauté française de Belgique) is a celebration of linguistic heritage and national independence. It largely takes place in the Walloon cities of Namur, Liege, Huy, and Charleroi, and is a public assertion of the linguistic and ethnic rights of French speakers. All schools and administrative buildings are closed for the feast day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: spinacha la Florentine - Means with spinach. More... leaf vegetables - Include cabbage and Romaine lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, endive, and cress. More... rainbow rotelle - A combination of tomato, spinach, and regular twirl-shaped pasta in the colors of the Italian flag. More... spinach - May come from Persian aspanakh/ispanak, perhaps related to the Latin spina, "spine," because of its prickly seeds. More... | |