Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, May 8, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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windsock
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Conditional SentencesConditional sentences are in the conditional mood, which is used for hypothetical scenarios that are dependent on a certain condition or conditions. What are the four "degrees" of conditionals? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 George C. Parker: Landmark BrokerParker was one of the most audacious con men in US history. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Parker sold and resold many of New York's landmarks to unwitting tourists. His most popular sales pitch was for the Brooklyn Bridge, a structure he sold on a regular basis. On a number of occasions, police were called to intervene as naïve "owners" attempted to erect tollbooths on the span. Imprisoned in 1928, Parker easily charmed the inmates and guards. What other landmarks did he sell? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Soviet Union Announces Boycott of Summer Olympics (1984)In response to the US boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, 14 Eastern Bloc countries, including the USSR, Cuba, and East Germany, boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California. The USSR cited US "chauvinistic sentiments and anti-Soviet hysteria" in its announcement of its decision not to participate. Thanks, in part, to the Soviet boycott, the US won 83 gold medals and 174 medals overall in Los Angeles. How did the US's unexpected success cost McDonald's millions? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Petrus Canisius (1521)Canisius was a 16th century Jesuit preacher who fought against the spread of Protestantism in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Switzerland. His catechism, Summa Doctrinae Christianae, authorized in 1566, was one of the earliest popular expositions of the faith. The reestablishment of Roman Catholicism in Germany after the Reformation was largely due to his zeal, and he was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1925. What line is he credited with adding to the Hail Mary prayer? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The man who is aware of himself is henceforward independent; and he is never bored, and life is only too short, and he is steeped through and through with a profound yet temperate happiness.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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eat, drink, and be merry— A call for others to enjoy themselves, usually in the context of a party or other festive gathering. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 White Lotus Day (Death of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky) (2019)The anniversary of the death of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) is commemorated by members of the Theosophical Society, which was founded in New York in 1875 by Blavatsky and Henry Olcott. Olcott and Blavatsky moved to India in 1878, and the international headquarters for the Theosophical movement remains in Adyar (near Madras) today. She completed her most important work, The Secret Doctrine (1888), an overview of Theosophical teachings, along with numerous other books, before her death in 1891. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: unluckydismal - Comes from French dies mali, "evil days," and first meant the 24 evil or unlucky days of the medieval calendar (two per month). More... infaust, infausting - Infaust is "unlucky" and infausting is "making unlucky." More... left-handed - Had a meaning of "unlucky" or "unseasonable." More... widdershins - Means "in a direction opposite of the usual one," but can also mean "unlucky." More... | |