Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, January 5, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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calumnious
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adverbial AdjunctsAdjuncts are usually adverbs or adverbial phrases that help modify and enrich the context of verbs in the sentence. What is the adverbial adjunct in the following sentence? "She walked to the park slowly." More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 MaglevMagnetic levitation, or maglev, is a method of supporting and propelling objects using magnets. Using the repellent force of superconductive magnets, vehicles, such as trains, may be suspended above a track or guideway. Continuously changing the polarity in alternate magnets causes a series of magnetic attractions and repulsions, which moves the vehicle along the track quickly and quietly. What is the highest recorded speed of a maglev train? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Great North American Ice Storm Strikes (1998)In just six days, the Great Ice Storm of 1998 devastated parts of eastern Canada and the US. Trees and electrical pylons collapsed under the weight of thick ice sheets, leaving millions without power for days—some for nearly a month. Major cities came to a standstill in a state of emergency, maple sugar and syrup businesses were devastated, and 16,000 Canadian Forces personnel were deployed—the largest Canadian deployment since the Korean War. What area was called the "triangle of darkness"? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jeannette Piccard (1895)American balloonist Jeannette Piccard held the women's altitude record for nearly three decades. She and her husband initially struggled to fund their ballooning—companies balked at endangering a woman and mother—but in 1934, the pair was able to make a record-breaking flight over Lake Erie. Jeannette piloted the balloon to a height of 57,579 ft (17,550 m), becoming the first woman to reach the stratosphere. She served as a consultant to NASA but later pursued what very different profession? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is impossible that anything so natural, so necessary, and so universal as death, should ever have been designed by providence as an evil to mankind.Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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odd duck— A rather unusual, strange, or peculiar person. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Befana Festival (2022)Sometimes referred to simply as La Befana, this is the Twelfth Night festival in Italy where the Befana, a kindly witch, plays much the same role that Santa Claus plays in the US. The festival begins on Epiphany Eve, when the Befana is supposed to come down the chimney on her broom to leave gifts in children's stockings. In Rome, the Piazza Navona is thronged with children and their parents, who shop for toys and exchange greetings. Bands of young people march around, blowing on cardboard trumpets, and the noise level in the square can be deafening. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: removalbeheadment - The removal of an initial letter of a word to form a new word (e.g. blather becomes lather). More... curtailment - The removal of the last letter of a word to leave another word (e.g. goon becomes goo). More... detail - Comes from French de-, "removal," and tailler, "cut in pieces," and means "to relate or describe minutely." More... water softening - The removal of calcium and magnesium ions from water, or their replacement with sodium, either by chemical reaction or by ion exchange. More... | |