Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, February 11, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pollinosis
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Understanding Restrictive Relative ClausesRestrictive relative clauses identify the noun, giving us information about it that we need to know in order to understand the speaker's meaning. This type of clause does not need any commas. What is the restrictive relative clause in the following sentence? "The house where I was born is a very special place." More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Murders at Wright's TaliesinFamed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright led a turbulent life rife with personal tragedy as well as several failed marriages. In 1909, Wright left his first wife and eloped to Europe with Mamah Cheney, who was also married at the time. When the pair returned to the US, Wright began building a new home, called Taliesin. In August 1914, while Wright was away, one of his workers set fire to Taliesin and murdered 7 people with an axe, including Cheney and her 2 children. Who survived the attack? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Nelson Mandela Is Freed (1990)As a young man, Mandela was an active opponent of South Africa's apartheid regime. Initially committed to non-violent struggle, he became the leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress after the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, when police opened fire on several thousand protesters. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1964, but international pressure led to his release in 1990. Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected his country's first black president in what year? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Manuel Noriega (1938)Noriega was a Panamanian general and the country's de facto military leader from 1983 to 1989. A one-time operative for the CIA, he was implicated in drug trafficking, the sale of US secrets to Cuba, and other illegal activities. Following the murder of a US marine on the streets of Panama City, Noriega was captured and brought to America to stand trial for drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering. What other countries have convicted Noriega of crimes in absentia? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To act with doubleness towards a man whose own conduct was double, was so near an approach to virtue that it deserved to be called by no meaner name than diplomacy.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a bit of a stretch— A mild exaggeration beyond the truth or what is likely the case. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Japan National Foundation Day (2023)The nationwide holiday known as Kenkoku Kinen-no-Hi commemorates the accession to the throne of Jimmu Tenno, Japan's first human emperor, in the year 660 BCE. He was believed to be a direct descendant of the gods and is credited with founding the Japanese empire. It is observed throughout Japan with fireworks and speeches on Japan's position in the world. One of the most elaborate celebrations takes place in Tokyo, where special rites are performed at the Imperial Sanctuary. The emperor and empress, the prime minister, and other high officials attend the ceremony. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: intensityheat - As a preliminary race for a sporting contest, it is so called because of its intensity. More... crescendo - Often mistakenly used to mean "reaching a pinnacle" when, in fact, it should be used only to describe a gradual increase in intensity or volume. More... resonate, resound - Resonate means "to expand, to intensity, or amplify the sound of," whereas resound means "to throw back, repeat the sound of." More... fervency, fervor - The intensity of heat or feeling can be described as fervency, from Latin fervere, "boil"; an instance of this heat or feeling is fervor. More... | |