Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, October 15, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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periwig
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ComplementsComplements are words or groups of words that are necessary to complete the meaning of another part of the sentence. What are the five main categories of complements? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Dog TagsBecause they resemble the identification tags found on dog collars, those worn by military personnel have also come to be known as dog tags. Now popular among civilians as fashion accessories, the tags are officially intended to aid in identifying those killed or wounded in battle. Before dog tags were invented, soldiers were known to scratch their names on the backs of their belt buckles or pin notes with identifying information to their clothing. Why are dog tags usually issued in sets of two? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 11-Year-Old Grace Bedell Urges Abraham Lincoln to Grow a Beard (1860)A few weeks before Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the US, 11-year-old Grace Bedell sent him a letter urging him to grow a beard to win over voters. Bedell claimed that "all the ladies like whiskers" and would urge their husbands to vote for a bearded Lincoln. Days later, Lincoln drafted a noncommittal response in which he wondered whether such a change in appearance would be well received. Within months, he was sporting his now-iconic beard. What did he say when he later met Bedell? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Marie Carmichael Stopes (1880)A Scottish paleobotanist whose first marriage was annulled—and allegedly never consummated—Stopes went on to publish a controversial yet highly influential sex manual, Married Love, in 1918. Thereafter, she became a pioneer in the field of family planning, opening the first birth-control clinic in the British Empire in 1921. Stopes helped break down taboos and improve women's reproductive health, but her support of what field of reproductive science has somewhat marred her reputation? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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move house— To relocate from one house or place of residence to another. Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kenka Matsuri (2021)The Kenka Matsuri (Roughhouse Festival) takes place October 14-15 in Shirahama, Japan, and thousands flock to the shrine where the festival is held. The roughhousing starts as teams of mikoshi-bearers jostle each other for position in the procession to the Matsubara Hachiman Shrine. Once they reach the shrine, they spin their heavy burden, raise it up high in the air and let it crash to the ground—difficult maneuvers designed to thrill the crowd. The mikoshi engage in a final battle in an open field, where thousands of cheering spectators take sides and and egg them on. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: scrapeerase - From Latin e-, "out," and radere, "scrape." More... raze, razor - Raze, from French raser, "shave close," is from Latin radere, "scrape, scratch"—also giving us razor. More... gride - To scratch, scrape, or cut with a grating sound. More... scrumble - To scrape or scratch (something) out of or from. More... | |