Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, May 15, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subordinating ConjunctionsSubordinating conjunctions are used to create complex sentences containing one independent clause, or main clause, and one dependent, or subordinate, clause. What two things does a subordinating conjunction do in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 TrepanationThe practice of drilling a hole into the skull to expose the dura mater surrounding the brain is an ancient surgical procedure dating back to prehistoric times. It is the oldest surgical procedure for which evidence (in the form of human remains) has been discovered. Modern physicians continue to perform trepanations, though the medical rationale surrounding the surgery has since evolved. Which artist gained notoriety for performing a self-trepanation and then screening a film of the procedure? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Supreme Court Declares Standard Oil an "Unreasonable" Monopoly (1911)By 1880, through elimination of competitors, mergers, and railroad rebates, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil controlled the refining of up to 95 percent of all oil produced in the US. In 1892, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the trust dissolved, but it continued to operate. Exposed in Ida Tarbell's History of the Standard Oil Company in 1904, it was broken up in 1911 after a lengthy antitrust suit by the US government. What current oil companies have ties to the former Standard Oil? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 L. Frank Baum (1856)Baum was an American author of more than 70 children's books who is best known for penning The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He moved from New York to South Dakota in 1888. When his newspaper there failed, he moved to Illinois and found work as a journalist. His first children's book, Mother Goose in Prose (1897), was followed by Father Goose: His Book, an immediate bestseller. In 2006, Baum's descendants apologized for editorials in which he called for the extermination of whom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 What is a woman? I assure you, I do not know...I do not believe that anybody can know until she has expressed herself in all the arts and professions open to human skill.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a bone to pick— An issue to discuss—typically one that is a source of annoyance for the speaker. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) Feast of San Isidro the Farmer (Madrid) (2018)The Feast of St. Isidore the Farmer is celebrated in Madrid, Spain, with eight days of bullfighting at the Plaza de Toros, colorful parades, and many artistic, cultural, and sporting events. Street vendors sell pictures of the saint, small glass or pottery bells believed to ward off harm from thunder and lightning, and whistle-stemmed glass roses, which provide a noisy accompaniment to the feasting and dancing that go on. The Festival of San Isidro is celebrated in other Spanish towns as well, particularly León and Alicante. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: plateassiette - A prepared dish of food, French for "plate, course of a meal." More... dish, plate - Dish is a more general term and plate is more specialized. More... plate - Etymologically, something "flat," from Latin plattus, "flat," and Greek platys, "broad." More... placard - Comes from French plaquier, "to plate; lay flat." More... | |