Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, October 15, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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staid
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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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 HysteriaThe term hysteria has been in use for millennia, but its meaning has changed dramatically over the years. While mental health experts have largely abandoned the designation of hysteria in favor of more modern diagnoses like conversion disorder, somatization disorder, and histrionic personality disorder, hysteria was once used as a catch-all diagnosis for women exhibiting a variety of symptoms attributed to uterine disturbances. Hippocratic texts advocated what cure for female hysteria? 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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 The sudden disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfillment of that hope never entirely removes.Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) | |
| 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... | |