Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, January 14, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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arc-boutant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ConjunctionsConjunctions are used to express relationships between things in a sentence, link different clauses together, and to combine sentences. There are four main types of conjunctions—what are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Japanese SakeSake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice. Although there are multiple theories about how it was developed, the first sakes were likely made from rice, millet, chestnuts, and acorns that people chewed and spit into a tub. The enzymes from the saliva converted the starches to sugars, resulting in a sweet mixture that was combined with freshly cooked grain and allowed to ferment. What does drinking sake from another's cup signify in Japanese culture? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Felice Orsini Attempts to Assassinate French Emperor Napoleon III (1858)Orsini was an Italian revolutionary in the movement for Italian unification. In 1858, he made an attempt on the life of Napoleon III, whom he held responsible for the failure of the Italian revolutions of 1848 to 1849. Although ably defended by French statesman Jules Favre, Orsini was executed. His act, designed to arouse world interest in the Italian cause, paradoxically influenced Napoleon's own decision to intervene in favor of Italian unification. How did Orsini try to kill Napoleon? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Dos Passos (1896)Dos Passos was an American writer whose World War I service as an ambulance driver and later work as a journalist led him to see the US as "two nations"—one for the rich and one for the poor. An artist to boot, he created many of the illustrations and covers for his books. His reputation as a social historian, radical critic of American life, and major novelist of the postwar "Lost Generation" rests primarily on his powerful U.S.A. trilogy, which includes what three novels? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Danger lies in the writer becoming the victim of his own exaggeration ... and in the end coming to despise truth itself as something too cold, too blunt for his purpose—as, in fact, not good enough for his insistent emotion. From laughter and tears the descent is easy to sniveling and giggles.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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grease payment— A sum of money, typically a bribe, paid to a government official or business person so as to facilitate or expedite some decision or transaction. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Pongal (2017)A colorful four-day harvest celebration in southern India, Pongal honors the sun, the earth, and the cow. The first day is for cleaning everything in the house. On the second day, freshly harvested rice and jaggery (palm sugar) are put to boil in new pots, and people cry out, "Pongal!" ("It boils.") On the third day, village cows and oxen are bathed, decorated with garlands of bells, beads, and leaves, and worshipped. On the fourth day, bundles containing money are tied to the sharpened horns of bulls. Young men who are brave enough try to snatch the money from the bulls' horns. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: lamblamb - In Gothic times, lamb was used for "adult sheep" as well as "baby sheep." More... rack of lamb - A roast of the rib section of lamb. More... shepherd's pie - Got its name from the meat it originally contained—lamb or mutton. More... white meat - The pale meat of poultry, rabbit, or veal; red meat is from beef or lamb. More... | |