Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, October 26, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
burgher
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Superlative AdverbsSuperlative adverbs, like superlative adjectives, are used to describe differences among three or more people or things. What ending is added to the base adverb to form a superlative adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Trout TicklingTrout tickling is the practice of rubbing the underbelly of a trout in order to put it in a trance-like state that makes it easier to catch by hand. Commonly used in times of economic stress, especially during the 1930s depression era, the technique has been featured in works of literature throughout history—including writings by 3rd century Greek writer Aelian, Shakespeare, and Mark Twain, who described catching catfish in a similar way. In what country is the practice essentially outlawed? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 President of South Korea Assassinated by His Chief of Intelligence (1979)Park rose through the ranks of the South Korean army and was a member of the military junta that overthrew the civilian government in 1961. Two years later, he was elected president of South Korea. Although his government aided economic progress through export-oriented growth, Park became increasingly dictatorial and was assassinated by his chief of intelligence in 1979—the last of several assassination attempts against him. Who was accidentally murdered in a 1974 attempt on Park's life? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Beryl Markham (1902)A British-born Kenyan aviatrix, adventurer, racehorse trainer, and writer, Markham is best remembered for her historic east-to-west solo flight across the North Atlantic in 1936 and for her 1942 memoir West with the Night, which chronicles her many adventures. The book had only modest success at first and soon went out of print, but it was rediscovered and reissued in 1983 and is now considered one of the best adventure books ever written. What controversy arose regarding its authorship? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 There are strings … in the human heart that had better not be vibrated.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
clutch (one's)/the pearls— To react in a scandalized or mortified manner to once-salacious but now relatively common things, events, situations, etc. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Angam Day (2018)Nauru is an island in the Pacific, about 2,200 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia, and 2,400 miles southwest of Honolulu. Over the past 100 years, the existence of Nauruans has been threatened a number of times—by tribal disputes in the 1870s, and by an influenza epidemic in 1919. During World War II, two-thirds were deported by the Japanese to the Caroline Islands to build airstrips. Angam Day (angam means "hope") on October 26 commemorates the various occasions when the Nauruan population has reached 1,500, considered the minimum number necessary for survival. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: tubecanyon - Gets its name from Spanish canon, "tube." More... catheter - A tube inserted for withdrawing bodily fluids, it comes from Greek kathienai, "send or let down." More... fuse - Comes from Italian fuso, "spindle," from Latin fusus, "spindle," as it originally referred to the casing or tube filled with combustible matter. More... | |
| In the News | |
|---|---|
Out of This World: How Artists Imagine Planets Yet UnseenWhen scientists recently announced that they had discovered a new planet orbiting our closest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centuri, they also released an artist's conception of the planet. The picture of a craggy canyon, illuminated by a reddish-orange ... More... | |