Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, January 21, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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solace
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Indefinite PronounsAn indefinite pronoun is used in place of a noun without specifying a particular person or thing that is being represented. Why are many pronouns that refer to more than one—e.g., everything, everyone, much, etc.— considered singular? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Portuguese Bank Note CrisisPerpetrated by Portuguese criminal Alves dos Reis, the Portuguese Bank Note Crisis was one of the largest frauds in history. In 1924, Reis forged a contract that fooled a legitimate print company into printing illegitimate banknotes for him. By the time his scheme was revealed, Reis had introduced into circulation banknotes equivalent to nearly 1% of Portugal's gross domestic product at the time, causing widespread economic and political repercussions. How did he initially cover up his scam? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Louis XVI of France Is Guillotined (1793)Louis XVI was the king of France during the complex sociopolitical conflict that culminated in the French Revolution, but he was shy, dull, and corpulent and lacked the leadership skills necessary for the job. During the revolution, he was caught attempting to flee the Tuileries palace in disguise, and when proof of his counterrevolutionary actions emerged, he was tried for treason and beheaded. It is said that while his blood dripped to the ground, many in the crowd ran forward to do what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Bodkin Adams (1899)Adams was an Irish-born British physician suspected of having been a serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients, many of them elderly, died under suspicious circumstances—most leaving him money or items in their wills. He was tried for the murder of one patient but was acquitted. He was later convicted of other crimes, but never murder. A 2000 article in the British Medical Journal suggests that Adams may have been the role model for what other serial-killer doctor? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nature abhors the old, and old age seems the only disease; all others run into this one.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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think (someone) hung the moon and the stars— To consider someone to be extraordinary, the best, or exceptionally wonderful. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Barrow Day (2018)This national public holiday honors Barbados' first prime minister. Errol Barrow was born in 1920, earned a law degree in England, then returned to Barbados. He became finance minister in 1959 and prime minister in 1961. He was reelected in 1966 and, soon after, Barbados became independent of Great Britain. Barrow was voted out in 1976, but regained office in 1986; he died the next year. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: ladybuck party, stag party - A buck party, like a stag party, is one without ladies. More... chatelaine - The lady or mistress of a household. More... lady - From Old English hlaf, "loaf," and a Germanic base meaning "knead," it first literally meant "one who kneads bread." More... | |