Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, February 10, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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uncultured
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Complex SentencesComplex sentences are made up of one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. What introduces and links the dependent clause to the independent clause? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Alan Magee's Death-Defying Free FallAlan Magee was an American airman who amazingly survived a 22,000-ft (6,700-m) fall from his damaged B-17 bomber during World War II. In 1943, Magee was on a daylight bombing run over France when German fighters shot off a section of his plane's right wing, causing the aircraft to enter a deadly spin. His parachute had been damaged and rendered useless, yet the wounded airman had no choice but to leap from the plane. He fell over four miles before what broke his fall? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Opens on Broadway (1949)Considered Miller's masterpiece, Death of a Salesman won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award for Best Play, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play award in its first year. An unconventional tragedy, it tells the story of the last day of Willy Loman, a failed salesman betrayed by his own hollow values. The play follows Loman's stream of consciousness. As he talks to people from his past, those from his present wonder if he is unraveling. What famous actors have played Loman? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Leontyne Price (1927)When she was a young girl in Mississippi, Price was given a toy piano by her parents. Her passion for music was further inflamed by a Marian Anderson performance she saw as a child. She later enrolled in Juilliard and, with her remarkable vocal range and power, went on to become one of the Metropolitan Opera's most popular stars and the first internationally recognized African-American opera singer. What unusual fee did the soprano reportedly request for a 1981 appearance with Luciano Pavarotti? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 In any really good subject, one has only to probe deep enough to come to tears.Edith Wharton (1862-1937) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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lose (one's) spirit— To lose one's vigor, energy, hope, or resolve; to become resigned or complacent. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Namahage Sedo Festival (2018)A namahage is a man dressed as a demon, wearing a grotesque mask and cape made of straw. Namahages traditionally appear on New Year's Eve at residents' homes to warn children not to be lazy. In 1964 the city of Oga adapted a community event that occurs in people's homes into a public festival that welcomes tourists. The Shinzan Shrine is the site for the festivities; in the dark, tens of people disguised as namahage parade down from the mountains and head to the shrine for music and dancing. Today a bonfire and rice cakes still await the arrival of the namahage. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: theatrebox office - An office in a theatre for booking seats, originally from "hiring a box." More... in the wings - An expression from the theatre, referring to the areas on the sides of the stage hidden from the audience. More... scenery, scenic - Scenery was originally theatrical—"a stage depiction of nature"—and it came to be applied to nature itself; scenic first pertained to the theatre and meant "dramatic, theatrical." More... | |
| In the News | |
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A 'Bat Bot' Takes FlightBat wings have intrigued scientists for centuries. And now, engineers have created “Bat Bot,” a small aircraft that mimics the flight patterns of the small, rodent-like flyers. Bat Bot exposes the complicated mechanics of bat flight and simultaneously provides ... More... | |