Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, April 21, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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arduous
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using infinitivesInfinitives are used to express an action as a concept, rather than what is being done or performed by the subject of a clause. In this way, they can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs—that is, nearly any role in a sentence except what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Blood Eagle TortureReferenced in some Norse saga literature, the Blood Eagle is a form of torture and execution performed by cutting the victim's ribs by the spine, breaking them to resemble blood-stained wings, and pulling the lungs out through the gaping wound. Though some cite archaeological evidence of the practice, others argue that it never occurred and that accounts of the method are based on folklore or inaccurate translations. Which Viking Age rulers were reportedly victims of the gruesome torture? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Principality of Hutt River Secedes from Australia (1970)In the late 1960s, Australian farmer Leonard Casley protested government wheat quotas he considered unfair. Unsuccessful, he turned to Commonwealth law and styled himself a monarch—His Majesty Prince Leonard I of Hutt—and founded The Principality of Hutt River. His pronouncement of sovereignty was never successfully challenged by the Australian government, and he is now considered a non-resident of Australia for income tax purposes. What legal quirks allowed him to start his own micronation? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Henry Wheeler Shaw, AKA Josh Billings (1818)Shaw studied at Hamilton College but was expelled for removing the clapper from the chapel bell. After a roving life as farmer, explorer, and coal miner, he settled in Poughkeepsie, New York, as an auctioneer and real estate dealer. In 1860, using the pseudonym Josh Billings, he began to write humorous sketches and homespun philosophies in rural dialect—often with intentionally crude misspellings—and soon became a popular lecturer. What are some of Shaw's best aphorisms? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bragging rights— The authority and freedom to boast or brag of one's achievements that comes from having won a contest or succeeded in some way, especially against a close rival. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Parilia (2023)This ancient Roman festival was held in honor of Pales, the protector of shepherds and their flocks. The Parilia was a pastoral rite observed not only in rural areas but also in Rome, where it coincided with the city's founding in 753 BCE. Although no sacrifices were offered, lustrations (purifying ceremonies) were carried out with fire and smoke. The stables were purified with smoke and swept out with brooms; in rural areas, heaps of straw were set ablaze, and shepherds and their flocks had to pass over them three times. The festival ended with a huge open-air feast. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: spinningheckle - First a "flax comb" for splitting and straightening the fibers for spinning; its metaphorical sense developed from its verb form, "to mangle by cutting, to cut roughly." More... distaff side, spear side - The female side of a family is the distaff side—the distaff being a stick used for holding yarn when spinning; the male side is the spear side. More... fouette - A spectacular pirouette in which the ballerina whips her raised leg around in an eggbeater motion while spinning on the other leg. More... | |