Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, October 5, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dander
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Quantifiers with Uncountable NounsCertain quantifiers can only be used with uncountable nouns, while others can only modify countable nouns. "Too much" and "too many" cause particular confusion. Which of those two quantifiers is used to modify uncountable nouns? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Reichstag FireThe 1933 fire at the German Parliament building known the Reichstag was a pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany. Allegedly set by a Dutch communist, the fire was used by Adolf Hitler to turn public opinion against his opponents, especially the communists. Immediately after the fire, he enacted a decree suspending constitutional protection of personal rights, effectively establishing the Nazi Party dictatorship. Why do some believe the fire was set by the Nazis themselves? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Dr. No, the First James Bond Film, Is Released (1962)In 1953, Ian Fleming published Casino Royale, the first of 12 novels featuring James Bond, the stylish, high-living secret service agent 007, who became one of the most successful heroes of 20th-century fiction. Packed with action, espionage, and sex, all 12 books—including From Russia, with Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball—became popular films. Although it was not the first Bond book, Dr. No was the first to be adapted for the big screen. Who starred as 007? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joshua Lockwood Logan III (1908)Logan was an American stage and film director and writer. He studied in Moscow under Constantin Stanislavsky and began to direct and act on Broadway and work on Hollywood films in the 1930s. He served as an intelligence officer in WWII, after which he directed a series of hit plays and musicals, including South Pacific, which he cowrote with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Why, when it won a Pulitzer Prize in 1950, were only Rodgers and Hammerstein initially listed as awardees? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is not right to glory in the slain.Homer (900 BC-800 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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day or night— At any point in time; 24 hours a day. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Great Locomotive Chase Festival (2018)This three-day celebration in Adairsville, Georgia, commemorates the storied Civil War locomotive chase that came on April 12, 1862, after the Yankee spy, James J. Andrews, stole the Confederate engine named "The General." William A. Fuller, the conductor, set off in a handcar; in Adairsville, he boarded the locomotive "Texas" and barreled after "The General." Events of the festival include showings of the locomotive-chase movies, a grand parade, fireworks, and gospel singing. There are also such contests as three-legged races, a bean-bag toss, and a tug of war. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: madgale - A very strong wind, probably related to Old Norse galinn, "frantic, mad." More... mad as a hatter - Refers to the fact that hat makers suffered mental illness in the old days when they got mercury poisoning from treating fur. More... madding - In "far from the madding crowd," madding is a poetic survival meaning "wild, furious, raving, mad." More... rabid, rabies - Rabid and rabies come from Latin rabere, "be mad." More... | |