Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, November 4, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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bellicose
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ObjectsGrammatical objects are nouns or pronouns that complete the meaning of verbs and prepositions. What is an indirect object? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Ibn BattutaIn 1325, Ibn Battuta embarked on an extraordinary 75,000-mile (120,675-km) journey via Mecca to Egypt, East Africa, India, and China. He set out at age 21 and returned home some 30 years later. No other medieval traveler is known to have journeyed so extensively. The details of his travels are recorded in a narrative titled The Adventures of Ibn Battuta. His inventions and academic work are also renowned. What nearly cost Ibn Battuta his life en route to China? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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.jpg) "Genie" the Feral Child Discovered by California Authorities (1970)One of the worst known cases of child abuse and social isolation in American history is that of "Genie," a girl forced to spend the first 13 years of her life alone in her bedroom, most of the time strapped to a potty chair. She was never spoken to and was apparently beaten if she attempted to speak. By the time she was discovered by authorities, she was nearly mute—her vocabulary consisted of about 20 words and a few short phrases. What did experts hope to learn by studying Genie? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Benjamin Robbins Curtis (1809)Curtis joined the US Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1851 but did not stay long. After dissenting with the court's ruling in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case that upheld slavery and declared African Americans ineligible for full US citizenship, Curtis resigned, becoming the only justice to have resigned from the court over a matter of principle. Curtis returned to his home state of Massachusetts and resumed his law practice, later becoming chief counsel in what high profile case? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The offhand decision of some commonplace mind high in office at a critical moment influences the course of events for a hundred years.Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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set (someone) by the ears— To cause (someone, generally a group of two or more people) to engage in a squabble, dispute, or altercation. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Will Rogers Day (2018)The birthday of Will Rogers, America's "cowboy philosopher," is observed in Oklahoma, where he was born on November 4, 1879. After his first appearance as a vaudeville entertainer in 1905 at Madison Square Garden, he developed a widespread reputation as a humorist. He went on to become a writer, a radio performer, and a motion-picture star. His birthday was first observed in 1947, with a celebration at the Will Rogers Memorial near the town of Claremore. Beneath the statue of Rogers at the memorial is the statement for which he is best remembered: "I never met a man I didn't like." More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: stretchingaforcing - The term for stretching the amount of a dish to accommodate more people. More... extend, extent - Are based on Latin pandere, "stretch." More... oscitancy, pandiculation - Oscitancy is the act of yawning; pandiculation is an all-over stretching and yawning, as upon waking, from Latin pandere. More... racking one's brain - Figuratively, it means stretching, and is derived from the Tower of London's torture method. More... | |