Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, February 19, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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billet
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Gradable AdverbsWe can only make comparisons using "gradable adverbs," meaning adverbs that are able to move up and down on a scale of intensity. The majority of adverbs are gradable. As with comparative adjectives, we can state differences in scale by using what words and phrases before the comparative adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 EarwormsKnown scientifically as "involuntary musical imagery," an earworm is a fragment of music that compulsively replays in one's head. The phenomenon, which is distinct from auditory hallucination and is believed to affect nearly everyone to some degree, has been studied by psychologists and neurologists alike. Some notable science fiction stories have concerned fictional songs so catchy that they get stuck in everyone's head, destroying civilization. Do earworms last longer for men or women? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Former US Vice President Aaron Burr Arrested for Treason (1807)Nearly three years after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, former US Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested on unrelated charges of treason. Though the exact details of his plan were a mystery even then, he was accused of plotting to establish an independent country of his own, possibly in the American Southwest. He was treated well while imprisoned at Fort Stoddert and was eventually acquitted, but his political career was destroyed. Which of his co-conspirators turned on him? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Nicolaus Copernicus (1473)Copernicus was a church canon, physician, and economist, but his most important work was in the field of astronomy. He developed the heliocentric theory of the universe that placed the Sun, not the Earth, at the center of our solar system and helped launch a scientific revolution. Though Copernicus conceived his revolutionary model of planetary motion by 1530, his treatise on the subject did not see print until he was on his deathbed in 1543. What heliocentric hypotheses preceded Copernicus's? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Where peaceAnd rest can never dwell, hope never comes That comes to all. John Milton (1608-1674) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a bridge too far— An act or plan whose ambition overreaches its capability, resulting in or potentially leading to difficulty or failure. Taken from the 1974 book A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan, which details the Allies' disastrous attempts to capture German-controlled bridges in the Netherlands during World War II. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin (2023)On February 19, 1942, Japanese bomber and fighter planes conducted a devastating air raid on the town of Darwin, the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory. As a tribute to honor the dead and those who defended Darwin, an annual commemoration is held in Bicentennial Park by the Cenotaph, a monument to those slain in World War I. At 9:58, the exact time the attack began, a World War II air raid siren sounds. During some observances, Australian regiments will reenact the attack: ground units fire their guns, and fighter planes perform fly-bys over the memorial site. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: incapableimpassible, impassable - Impassible is incapable of feeling or suffering; impassable is not capable of being passed. More... impregnable - Means "incapable of being taken by force" (from French prendre, "seize"). More... indefatigable - Means "incapable of being wearied." More... inimitable - Means "unique; incapable of being imitated." More... | |