Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, January 2, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Ending Exclamatory SentencesExclamation points are most often used in place of periods to end declarative sentences that express a very strong emotion, such as anger, excitement, surprise, or disgust. What are such sentences sometimes called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Laura Maria Caterina BassiThe first woman to teach at a university in Europe, Bassi was born into a wealthy Italian family in 1711 and was privately educated for seven years. Her scientific work was encouraged by Cardinal Prospero Lambertini, who would later become pope. She attained a position at the University of Bologna at the age of 21 and was thereafter instrumental in introducing Isaac Newton's work to Italy. After she joined the Institute of Sciences at the age of 65, who served as her teaching assistant? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mercurius becomes Pope John II (533 CE)Though Catholics today are accustomed to the pope taking a new name once elected, Mercurius was the first to do so. As his birth name honored the pagan god Mercury, he chose to become John II upon elevation to the papacy. Though he died just two years later, he served at a time when sacred artifacts were regularly being sold and simony—the purchase or sale of church offices or preferment—was rampant in the selection of church officials. What other scandals did John face in his brief tenure? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898)Alexander came from a family of academic achievers—her father and uncle both graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, studying law and medicine respectively. Alexander also earned a degree from the school—becoming one of the first African-American women with a PhD in the US—and moved on to Penn's law school, where she was the first African-American woman graduate. She also served as the first national president of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In which subject was Alexander's PhD? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Alliance, n.: In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted into each others' pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be not in Kansas anymore— To no longer be in a place that one knows or where one is comfortable; to be in a completely unfamiliar and/or discomfiting environment. A reference to The Wizard of Oz, in which Dorothy, upon arriving to Oz, says, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Berchtold's Day (2022)In Switzerland, the day after New Year's Day is known as Berchtoldstag and is celebrated primarily by children. Groups of playmates organize parties that feature nut eating and nut games followed by singing and folk dancing. A popular game is the building of "hocks" composed of four nuts placed close together with a fifth balanced on top. The children begin gathering and stockpiling nuts for Berchtold's Day festivities early in the fall. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: yesterdayhestern, hesternal - Hestern or hesternal means "pertaining to yesterday." More... nudiustertian - Pertaining to the day before yesterday. More... pridian - "Of or relating to a previous day or yesterday; former." More... yesterday - The yester of yesterday and yesteryear was a word on its own, meaning "yesterday," but by Old English it had become a collocation with "day." More... | |