Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, April 6, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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mercantile
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining AdverbsAn adverb refers to any element in a sentence used to modify a verb, adjective, another adverb, or even an entire clause. Adverbs can be single words. They can also be phrases (called "adverbial phrases") or entire clauses, which are called what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 SicilySicily, the strategically located largest island in the Mediterranean, has long been a crossroads of history, a "melting pot" of ancient cultures and peoples. It was colonized by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks starting in the 8th century BCE and in the millennia that followed fell first to the Romans, then successively to the Vandals, Goths, Byzantines, and Arabs, and finally to the Normans. Today, it is an autonomous region of Italy. Who are some of history's most famous Sicilians? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Opening of the First Modern Olympic Games (1896)In 1894, after efforts by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin to revive the ancient Greek Olympics, the newly established International Olympic Committee appointed the Greek capital of Athens as the host city for the first modern international Olympic Games. Held between April 6 and 15, 1896, the games drew athletes from 14 countries for several athletic events, including the first modern marathon. Though women were not allowed to compete, one woman protested the day after the marathon by doing what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nadar (1820)Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, otherwise known as Nadar, was a pioneering French photographer and writer. He invented the photo-essay, but his prose essays and novels brought him greater fame in his day than his photographs. Today, however, he is known for his superb portraits of the Paris intelligentsia, who frequently gathered at his studio, and his aerial images of Paris, which were the first photographs ever taken from the air. What famous literary figure did Nadar photograph on his deathbed? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Now, I hold it is not decent for a scientific gentTo say another is an ass—at least, to all intent; Nor should the individual who happens to be meant Reply by heaving rocks at him to any great extent. Bret Harte (1836-1902) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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dodge a bullet— To narrowly avoid something or some situation that turns out to be undesirable, disastrous, dangerous, or otherwise harmful. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Chakri Day (2023)Chakri Day is a national holiday in Thailand to commemorate the enthronement of Rama I, who founded the Chakri Dynasty in 1782. He was born Chao Phraya Chakri in 1737 and had become Thailand's leading general when a palace coup took place in Thon Buri. The dynasty he established has headed the country to this day, although the end of absolute monarchy came in 1932. The king was given the title Rama after his death. Ceremonies on April 6 honor his deeds and the founding of Bangkok as the capital. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: listenear to the ground - It was early Native Americans who taught us to, literally, keep an ear to the ground to listen for horses' hooves as riders approached. More... scout - From the Latin ausculture, "to listen," it became Old French escoute, "a spy." More... hearken - To pay attention or listen; it can also mean "to return to a previous topic." More... listen, hear - To listen is to try to hear; to hear is simply to perceive with the ear. More... | |