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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Spelling Conjugated VerbsAs we've seen already, some verbs take "-s" or "-es" to conjugate for third-person singular subjects. How do we know which ending to add? 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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 Iran Hostage Crisis Begins (1979)In 1979, an Islamic revolutionary government overthrew Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran. When the exiled shah was admitted to the US for medical treatment, a crowd of about 500 seized the US embassy in Tehran, demanding the shah's extradition. US President Jimmy Carter halted Iranian oil imports and froze Iranian assets, but his diplomatic initiatives proved fruitless, and a US rescue mission failed. Fifty-two hostages were held for 444 days until the end of the crisis in 1981. How did it end? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Guido Reni (1575)Reni was an Italian painter and engraver. He was apprenticed to Flemish painter Denis Calvaert as a boy and by 23 had been commissioned by the government to execute decorative frescoes for the facade of the Palazzo Pubblico. Shortly thereafter, he made the first of his many trips to Rome, where he executed many important commissions, including the celebrated ceiling fresco Aurora. Reni became a rival of what painter, whose style and technique influenced some of his most famous works? 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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a falling out— A severe quarrel or disagreement, especially one that leads to a temporary or permanent end of a relationship. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tonga National Day (2016)Located in the Pacific Ocean some 1,250 miles north of New Zealand, the island nation of Tonga consists of about 150 islands, 36 of which are inhabited. With a population of about 120,000, Tonga is ruled by a royal family that goes back to 1831. On November 4, 1875, King George Tupou I gave his consent to the constitution of the new nation of Tonga. Celebrated for many years as Tonga Constitution Day, the holiday was renamed by the government in 2006 as Tonga National Day and pronounced as an occasion to celebrate the country's heritage as a whole. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: proveprobe, prove, probable - Latin probare, "approve, prove, test," is the source of English probe and prove. From that came Latin probabilis, "provable," which became English probable. More... sooth, soothsayer, soothe - Sooth, "true, truth," or "that which is," is part of soothsayer; it is related to soothe, which once meant "assent to be true; say yes to," or "to prove or show a fact to be true." More... approve - Its original sense was "prove, demonstrate." More... rebut, refute - To rebut a statement is to offer clear evidence or a reasoned argument against it; to refute a statement is to prove it wrong (neither means "contradict" or "deny"). More... | |