Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, August 28, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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febrifuge
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Periods with AbbreviationsWhile the period is most commonly used to mark the end of a sentence, it is also used to mark abbreviations. In addition to standard abbreviations (words that are shortened by omitting one or more letters), there are also three sub-categories that can use periods. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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.svg.png) SephirotKabbalah is an esoteric system of interpretation of Jewish scriptures based upon a tradition claimed to have been handed down orally from Abraham. One of its principle sources is the 1894 Sefer Yetzirah, or Book of Creation. It develops, in a series of monologues supposedly delivered by Abraham, the doctrine of the Sephirot. Kabbalists believe that Sephirot are powers emanating from God through which the world is created and its order sustained. There are 10 of them. What are they? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Issue of Scientific American Magazine Is Published (1845)In 1845, Rufus Porter—an eccentric inventor, painter, and editor—published the first issue of Scientific American, a weekly newspaper about new inventions. By 1853, its circulation had reached 30,000 and it was reporting on various sciences, such as astronomy and medicine. In 1921, it became a monthly. Its solidly-researched, well-written articles, accompanied by illustrations and explanations, have made it a highly regarded publication. How much did the first subscriptions cost? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 William Robertson Davies (1913)Davies was one of Canada's most distinguished writers. Educated at Oxford, he produced more than 30 works of fiction throughout his long literary career, as well as plays, essays, and criticism. Among the themes explored in his densely plotted novels are life's moral dimensions and the isolation of the spirit. He is best known for his three novel trilogies dealing with life and culture in fictional Ontario villages. What innovative technology, considered indispensible today, did he proudly shun? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The egoism which enters into our theories does not affect their sincerity; rather, the more our egoism is satisfied, the more robust is our belief.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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rid out— (chiefly Midwestern United States) To clean, empty, or clear out (something or some space). Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo (2025)St. Augustine is best known for his spiritual autobiography, the Confessions, which detail the excesses of his youth, his career as a teacher of rhetoric, his years as a believer in Manicheism and Platonism, and his belated conversion to Christianity. It is primarily for his writings that he is known as the patron saint of theologians and scholars, and one of the "Four Latin Fathers" of the Christian Church. When a company of Spanish soldiers landed on the coast of Florida on St. Augustine's Day in 1565, they named the U.S.'s oldest European community after him. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: lessenalleviate - Can mean "diminish the weight of"; to alleviate is not to cure, but rather to lighten, lessen, or relieve to some degree. More... minute, second - Latin minutus, "small," came from minuere, "lessen," and the term pars minuta prima, "first small part," was applied to a 60th of a whole—a minute, originally of a circle and later of an hour; likewise, a second was originally a secunda minuta, a 60th of a 60th. More... mince - Can mean "lessen or diminish (something)" or "minimize." More... bated breath - The expression is based on bate, meaning "to moderate, restrain" or "to lessen, diminish"; though bated was once rather common, it is now rare except in this set expression. More... | |