Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, February 17, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cerebrate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ParticiplesParticiples are words formed from verbs that can function as adjectives or gerunds or can be used to form the continuous tenses and the perfect tenses of verbs. There are two participle forms—what are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Terror BirdsPhorusrhacids, commonly known as "terror birds" because of their role as apex predators, were large, carnivorous, flightless birds that roamed S America during the Cenozoic era, from about 62 million to 2 million years ago. They are believed to have migrated to N America when the Isthmus of Panama formed, bridging the formerly separated continents. The birds ranged in height from about 3 to 10 ft (1 to 3 m) and were likely fast runners. What are thought to be their closest modern-day relatives? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Issue of Newsweek Magazine Is Published (1933)Originally News-Week, the magazine debuted 10 years after Time, for which Newsweek founder Thomas J.C. Martyn had been an editor. It evolved into a full spectrum of news material, from breaking news and analysis to reviews and commentary. In 1961, it was purchased by Philip Graham, publisher of The Washington Post. In 2010, it was sold for $1 to American businessman Sidney Harman. Today, Newsweek is the second largest newsweekly in the US. What is the largest? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE (1930)Born in London, Rendell became an author of murder mysteries and psychological thrillers in the 1960s. She has since published dozens of award-winning novels—many featuring her Chief Inspector Wexford—and has been recognized for her sharp prose and psychological insight by both critics and audiences. Originally a journalist, Rendell was fired after writing about a society dinner she did not attend. What notable misfortune, which was absent from Rendell's article, befell the speaker of the event? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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half-pint— Any small, weak, and/or insignificant person. Alludes to a pint, a unit of liquid measurement. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Fornacalia (2020)The Fornacalia, or Feast of Ovens, was designed to benefit the ovens (fornices) that parched grain and was held to placate the goddess Fornix, who presided over them. It lasted a week, during which each household made an offering of far, flour of the oldest kind of Italian wheat, served in the form of cakes. According to Ovid, those who were uncertain which curia, or tribal divisions of Rome, they belonged to ended up observing this festival on February 17 instead of on the proper day. At this time a general offering of cakes was made by the whole community. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: uniformman of the cloth - Originally applied to anyone who wore a uniform or livery for work. More... mufti - Civilian clothes worn by a person who usually wears a uniform. More... uniform - Something that is uniform has literally only "one form," from Latin unus, "one," and forma, "form." More... doughboy - The small round doughnuts served to sailors in the 19th century were called doughboys—and they resembled the round buttons on the sailors' uniforms—so the sailors came to be known as this. More... | |