Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, January 3, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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coagulate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Stative VerbsStative verbs (also known as state verbs) are verbs that describe a static condition, situation, or state of being. They are contrasted with action verbs. What forms of verb tenses generally are not formed with stative verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Golden Age of WhodunitBeginning in the 1920s, the complex, plot-driven, whodunit genre of detective fiction experienced a 30-year Golden Age. In these stories, the puzzle takes center stage, and readers, who are provided with clues throughout the book, are challenged to deduce the perpetrator's identity before it is revealed in the mystery's final pages. Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone (1868) is widely regarded as one of the first true whodunits. What famed children's author also penned a whodunit in 1922? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 March of Dimes Established by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1938)The March of Dimes is a US charity whose mission is to improve the health of babies. It was founded with the goal of eradicating polio, one of the most dreaded diseases of the 20th century, during the tenure of President Roosevelt, who himself contracted what was thought to be polio in 1921. The national, nonpartisan organization initially raised funds for research by urging the public to contribute a dime to the effort and came to be called the March of Dimes, but its original name was what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Cicero (106 BCE)Cicero was a statesman, philosopher, unsurpassed master of Latin prose, and one of Rome's greatest orators. His writings introduced the Romans to Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary. He was a prolific author, and his letters reveal a wealth of information about Roman life and politics. As an active politician and leader of the senatorial party, he was at times hailed as a hero, but he also made enemies who contributed to his exile and, later, his execution for what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be thrilled to death— To be ecstatic; to be very pleased and excited. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Compitalia (2019)The Compitalia were festivals celebrated in ancient Rome in early January (between the 3rd and the 5th, according to some accounts) in honor of the lares, or deities of the household farm and family. Compita were places where roads crossed each other and were considered sacred, and people would hold sacrifices there at the end of the agricultural year. Sometimes farmers would also hang a broken plough there to indicate that a job was done. The spirit of the ancient festival survived in Plough Monday, an occasion for servants to celebrate the completion of their ploughing. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: treasurehamper - A food basket for a picnic, it is a phonetic reduction of the word hanaper, "plate basket," or "repository for treasure." More... garrison - At first, it meant "store, treasure." More... treasure - Based on Greek thesauros. More... treasure trove - From French, literally meaning "found treasure." More... | |