Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, March 4, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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moonstruck
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Numbered and Lettered ListsSimilar to quotation marks, parentheses are always used in pairs—we cannot have a single parenthesis (the name for one of the brackets on its own) without its match appearing elsewhere nearby. The one exception is when we structure a list in what way? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 BiofeedbackIn 1961, experimental psychologist Neal Miller suggested that autonomic nervous system responses, such as heart rate or blood pressure, could be placed under voluntary control. Miller's work led to the creation of biofeedback therapy, a patient-guided treatment that teaches an individual to control bodily functions through relaxation, visualization, and other cognitive control techniques. How does the process work? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Collinwood School Fire (1908)In one of the deadliest disasters of its kind in the United States, 172 children and three adults were killed when an elementary school caught fire in Collinwood, Ohio. Though the building's doors opened outward, they were fitted with regular door latches instead of panic bars, which hindered the evacuation. As the conflagration rapidly spread, many children became trapped. Within two years of the disaster, residents of Collinwood voted to make what dramatic change to their community? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jack Sheppard (1702)A popular English criminal who served as the basis for the character Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, Sheppard was arrested and imprisoned five times in 1724 alone. The first four times, he escaped. The fifth time, he was executed. Because his crimes were all non-violent, he was well liked, especially by the lower classes, and he became a fixture in the folklore of the era. His execution resembled a party, with the 22-year-old stopping to do what on his way to the gallows? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Audiences are always better pleased with a smart retort, some joke or epigram, than with any amount of reasoning.Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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castles in the sky— Dreams, hopes, or plans that are impossible, unrealistic, or have very little chance of succeeding. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Omizutori Matsuri (2023)Omizutori Matsuri is marked by religious rites that have been observed for 12 centuries at the Buddhist Todaiji Temple in the city of Nara, Japan. During this period of meditative rituals in the first two weeks of March, the drone of recited sutras and the sound of blowing conchs echo from the temple. On March 12, young monks on the temple gallery brandish burning pine-branches, shaking off burning pieces. Spectators below try to catch the sparks, believing they have magic power against evil. On March 13, the ceremony of drawing water is observed to the accompaniment of ancient music. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: snubsneb - A reprimand or a snub. More... avert - Etymologically, it means "to turn away": blows can be averted, but not pain; a snub can be averted, but not a humiliation; violence can be averted, but not damage. More... cold shoulder - This term for a snub started when people overstayed their welcome and were served cold beef shoulder, rather than hot food. More... snouch - To snouch someone is to snub or treat with scorn. More... | |