Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, October 2, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
swarm
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Using "May" to Ask for PermissionThe modal verb "may" is very commonly used to express or ask for permission to do something. While "may" is considered the most polite and formally correct option when asking for permission, what other modal verbs can be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The BarmakidsThe Barmakids were a noble Persian family who attained great power under the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad in the 8th century. Often serving as viziers and holding other influential roles, the Barmakids were patrons of the sciences and are credited with establishing Baghdad's first paper mill. However, by the start of the 9th century, the family's power and status was in decline and many of its members were imprisoned or executed. The Barmakids are mentioned in what famous stories? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Peanuts Is First Published (1950)The enormously popular syndicated comic strip Peanuts was first published in 1950. It ran continuously for the next 50 years, ending shortly before the death of its creator, Charles Schulz. The strip chronicled the childhood travails of Charlie Brown and his friends, including Lucy and Linus, and his dog, Snoopy. Among the strip's recurring gags was a prank in which Lucy would pull away a football just as Charlie was about to kick it. Did he ever make a successful kick? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Nat Turner (1800)Turner was an American slave who believed that he had been chosen to lead the slaves out of bondage. He took a solar eclipse in 1831 as a sign and began his rebellion with a few trusted fellow slaves. They killed his master's family and went from house to house, freeing slaves and killing the white people they found. The rebels grew to more than 70 before the state militia quashed the insurrection. Turner was tried and hanged along with 56 others. What laws were passed in response to the revolt? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Eulogy, n.: Praise of a person who has either the advantages of wealth and power, or the consideration to be dead.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
damn the torpedoes— To press on with a task or current course of action regardless of apparent risks or dangers. Attributed to David Farragut of the United States Navy during the American Civil War, usually paraphrased as "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" The actual order (if it ever existed) was: "Damn the torpedoes! Four bells. Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!" More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Guardian Angels Day (2019)As early as the ninth century, a day was set aside to honor angels in general and the archangel Michael in particular. This was September 29, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels or Michaelmas. But some people, believing that a particular angel is assigned to watch over each human being, wanted to honor their own personal protectors or guardian angels. A feast in their honor observed in 16th-century Spain was extended to the whole church by Pope Paul V in 1608, and in 1672 Pope Clement X set October 2 as the universal day for the festival. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: touchingadjoining - Implies meeting and touching at some point or line. More... tact, taction - Tact first referred to the sense of touch, from Latin tactus, "touch, sense of touch"; taction is the action of touching. More... contact - Its underlying notion is "touching," from Latin tangere, "touch." More... attinge, attingent - To attinge is to touch or come into contact with; attingent is touching or being in contact. More... | |