Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, July 11, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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contumely
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Negative Interrogative SentencesNegative interrogative sentences (sometimes called interro-negative sentences) are interrogative sentences that are made negative. How are these sentences constructed? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Battle of AlcatrazA failed escape from Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary by six inmates in 1946 prompted a massive security response involving the San Francisco Police Department, US Coast Guard, FBI, Air Force, and Marines. Two guards and three prisoners were killed during the two-day confrontation that has come to be known as "The Battle of Alcatraz," and two more prisoners were later executed for their role in the incident. How many years passed before prisoners attempted another escape from Alcatraz? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Los Alfaques Disaster (1978)The Los Alfaques disaster was an explosion that took place near a campsite in Tarragona, Spain, when a leaking tanker truck loaded with 23 tons of highly flammable liquid propylene ignited. This resulted in a massive explosion and fireball that reached over 1000° F (538° C) and destroyed everything within a 1000-ft (300-m) radius. It killed 217 people, including the truck's driver, and severely burned more than 200. What regulations were later instituted to prevent future disasters of this sort? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Luis de Góngora y Argote (1561)Góngora was a poet of the Spanish Golden Age who successfully wove Renaissance and popular poetry into an original and elegant form. Very influential in his era, he developed the difficult, complex poetic style that became known as Gongorism. It provoked enmity from many of his contemporaries and was so exaggerated by less gifted imitators that his reputation suffered until the 20th century. He has since been called Spain's greatest poet. What is his most famous work? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A steady hand in governing of military affairs is more requisite than in times of peace, because an error committed in war may, perhaps, prove irremediable.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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devil in disguise— Something or someone that appears to be good, useful, or benevolent, but that in reality proves to be the opposite. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Naadam (2019)This Mongolian festival spotlights the "three manly games" for a Mongolian, and its history goes back to the 13th century. Today, it is held from July 11-13 in provinces throughout the country. The fairs bring together the nomadic people, who pitch a city of yurts or gers (felt tents). Wrestling is usually the first event, the second is archery, and the last of the traditional sports is horse racing. When night falls, a bowed stringed instrument called a matouqin is played, and people sit by their yurts talking, dancing, and drinking butter tea and kumys. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: positivelitotes - From Greek litos, "simple, single," it refers to an ironical understatement (e.g. no small amount) or two negatives used to make a positive (e.g. it was not unsuccessful); it is pronounced lie-TOH-teez, LEYED-uh-teez, LID-uh-teez, or leye-TOHD-eez. More... set point - One's set point (for happiness) is a genetically determined level of happiness, to which one returns after positive or negative emotional experiences. More... Positive, comparative, superlative - Positive is the ordinary form of a word, with comparative conveying a sense of greater intensity of the adjective and superlative reflecting the greatest intensity of the adjective. More... acceptable face - The positive or reasonable side of something. More... | |