Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, April 27, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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upstart
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Auxiliary Verbs - ShouldThe modal verb "should" is used in a variety of ways, including to politely express obligations or duties and to ask for or issue advice. Why is "should" sometimes used instead of "will" or "shall"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Bat BombsDuring WWII, a dentist named Lytle Adams proposed a new method of aerial attack to the US military: the bat bomb. The plan called for containers filled with hundreds of bats fitted with small incendiary devices to be dropped over Japanese cities at dawn, a time when the nocturnal creatures would be inclined to find somewhere to roost. Shortly thereafter, the timed devices would detonate, creating widespread fires and chaos. How was his proposal received by government and military officials? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Sierra Leone Granted Independence from the UK (1961)The capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, was founded on the coast of West Africa by British abolitionists in 1787 as a haven for freed and runaway slaves. It became a British colony in 1808, and the region became a British protectorate in 1896. It achieved independence in 1961 and became a republic 10 years later, but with independence came a series of military coups. An 11-year civil war marked by horrific atrocities further devastated the country and ended in 2002. What has occurred since then? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mary Wollstonecraft (1759)Wollstonecraft was an English author who turned to writing while teaching and working as a governess and as a translator for a London publisher. She was an early proponent of educational equality between men and women, and her most important book, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, is widely regarded as the founding document of modern feminism. In 1797, she married the philosopher William Godwin. She died days after the birth of their daughter, who went on to become what famous writer? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nothing exists; all is a dream. God—man—the world—the sun, the moon, the wilderness of stars—a dream, all a dream; they have no existence. Nothing exists save empty space—and you!...And you are not you—you have no body, no blood, no bones, you are but a thought.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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cross (one's) bows— To annoy or irritate. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Maryland Hunt Cup (2019)A steeplechase that has been run in Maryland since 1894, the Hunt Cup is considered the premier such horse race in America and one of the toughest steeplechases in the world. It's a timber race: the jumps are over stout post-and-rail fences rather than hedges as in the English Grand National. The course is four miles long and has 22 fences, none of which are jumped twice. Tailgate parties are held before the race, and a hunt ball after it is attended by riders, trainers, jockeys, owners, and members of the two local hunt clubs. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: rowwindbreak - A row of trees acting as a fence. More... acrostic - From Greek akron, "end," and stikhos, "row, line of verse." More... queue - Has the forms queued and queuing or queueing; queueing has five vowels in a row. More... row - The verb comes from Germanic ro-, "steer," and row, "orderly line," which is from Germanic raigwa. More... | |