Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, March 3, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
flounder
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Rules for Using Prepositions with NounsCertain prepositions can be used in conjunction with nouns. There is no clear-cut rule that determines which prepositions connect to which nouns, but we can make an educated guess by looking at what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Secret SpeechAfter Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Krushchev emerged from a bitter power struggle as the Communist party's first secretary. At the party's Twentieth Congress in 1956, he delivered a "secret speech," "On the Personality Cult and its Consequences," harshly denouncing Stalin and his policies. The program of de-Stalinization, which had already begun, was thus supported and continued by Khrushchev. When was the full text of this "secret speech" finally officially released to the public? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Significant Oil Reservoirs Discovered in Saudi Arabia (1938)Prior to 1938, Saudi Arabia was not considered an oil-rich nation. Today, the oil industry dominates its economy, making up 90 percent of all Saudi exports. Oil was first discovered there in the mid-1930s by the US-owned Arabian Standard Oil Company, which became the Arabian American Oil Company. However, it was not until 1938 that a commercially viable oil field was found, yielding one of the largest supplies in the world. How large are Saudi Arabia's oil reserves estimated to be? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Charles Ponzi (1882)Possibly the most famous con man in history, Ponzi is now synonymous with a particular type of ruinous investment scheme. By promising impossibly high returns on a "get rich quick" scheme, Ponzi attracted enough new investors to use their money to pay off old investors, which made his outfit appear successful and solvent. It was not. After a series of trials, he was deported from the US, but in at least one case in 1922, he was found not guilty. Who was his lawyer at that trial? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal.John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
lay (one's) life on the line— To put oneself in harm's way (to achieve something), especially at the risk of losing one's life. (Sometimes used hyperbolically.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Hina Matsuri (2021)Hina Matsuri is a festival for girls, celebrated in homes throughout Japan since the Edo Period (1600-1867). A set of 10 to 15 dolls (or hina), usually family heirlooms from various generations, is displayed on a stand covered with red cloth. Dressed in elaborate silk costumes, the dolls represent the emperor and empress, court ministers, and servants. In parts of Tottori Prefecture, girls make boats of straw, place a pair of paper dolls in them and set them afloat on the Mochigase River. The custom dates back to ancient times when dolls were used as talismans to exorcize evil. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: layersply - From Latin plicare, "fold," a thickness or any of the layers of a multilayer material, such as plywood. More... disk - The layers of cartilage and pulp between vertebrae. More... Neapolitan ice cream - Gets its name from its layers resembling the Italian flag. More... delaminate - To separate into layers. More... | |