Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, February 14, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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coeval
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Past Continuous TenseAlso called the past progressive, the past continuous tense is used to describe something that was in progress at a certain moment in the past. Why is it called the past continuous? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 WaterboardingWaterboarding, a torture method that simulates drowning, has existed in various forms since the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Generally, water is poured over the face of an immobilized prisoner, inducing the gag reflex and mimicking sensations associated with drowning. The technique gained international attention in 2006, when reports surfaced charging the US with torturing detainees during the "War on Terror." When CIA officers were waterboarded during training, how quickly did they break? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, Unveiled (1946)ENIAC was an early electronic digital computer built in the US by engineers J. Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly. The massive ENIAC weighed 30 tons, filled an entire room, and used some 18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors, and 10,000 capacitors. After its official unveiling in 1946, it was used to prepare artillery-shell trajectory tables and perform other military and scientific calculations. ENIAC solved its first problem in December 1945, making calculations for what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jack Benny (1894)Benny made his vaudeville debut playing the violin in 1912. After discovering a talent for comedy while in the navy, he returned to vaudeville as a comedian. He made his film debut in 1927 and appeared in 18 films between 1930 and 1945. His weekly radio show—1932 to 1955—and TV show—1950 to 1965—won loyal audiences, and he became famous for a unique comic style characterized by subtle verbal inflection, meaningful pauses, and the stage image of a vain, stingy man. What was Benny's real name? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To criticize is to appreciate, to appropriate, to take intellectual possession, to establish in fine a relation with the criticized thing and to make it one's own.Henry James (1843-1916) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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with (one's) head held high— Displaying pride and confidence, often (but not always) after something has gone wrong. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Frederick Douglass Day (2019)Each year on February 14, Frederick Douglass's birthday is commemorated with a ceremony at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Washington, D.C. The event features speakers on human rights, recitations of excerpts from Douglass's speeches, music performances, and a wreath-laying ceremony. Activities, including lectures, readings from his works, and film presentations about his life, are also planned in New Bedford, in Rochester, N.Y., where Douglass's grave is located, and in many other locations throughout the country. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pillargnomon, gnomonics - A gnomon is the pillar or rod that casts a shadow on a sundial; gnomonics is the art or science of dialing or of constructing dials to show the hour of the day by the shadow of a gnomon. More... pilaster - First referred to a square or rectangular column or pillar. More... pillar - From Latin pila, "pillar," the source of compile, pilaster, and pile. More... column - Its underlying notion is of "height, command, extremity," and it comes from Latin columna, "pillar," which probably came from columen/culmen, "top, summit." More... | |