Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, October 28, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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febrile
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Evaluative Adverbs that Indicate a Degree of CertaintyThere are several types of evaluative adverbs, which can be classified according to their function. We can use evaluative adverbs to state how certain we are about something. "Obviously" is an evaluative adverb that we can use in this way. What are others? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Reeducation Camp"Reeducation Camp" is the official name given to prison camps operated by the Vietnamese government following the Vietnam War. Both a means of revenge and a sophisticated repression and indoctrination system, the camps were used by the government to "reeducate"—through hard labor—several hundred thousand former military officers and government workers from South Vietnam. Tens of thousands are estimated to have died under the harsh conditions. Were the prisoners ever released? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Harvard College Is Founded (1636)Founded with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Harvard College was named for its first benefactor, John Harvard. He bequeathed his books and about £780 to the fledgling college. The oldest and one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the US, Harvard originally trained Puritan ministers. Today, it has the largest university endowment in the US, estimated at more than $25 billion in 2009. Why did Harvard athletes first adopt the color red? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837)Tokugawa was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. The Tokugawa family held the shogunate and controlled Japan from 1603 to 1867. Beginning at the time of Yoshinobu's birth, there were numerous peasant uprisings and samurai unrest. Undermined by increasing foreign incursions, the Tokugawa were overthrown by an attack of provincial forces from Choshu, Satsuma, and Tosa, who restored the Meiji emperor to power. Yoshinobu resigned in 1867. How did he spend his retirement? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Light is the task where many share the toil.Homer (900 BC-800 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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engine room— The main source of talent, power, or ability in a team or group, likened to the room that houses a ship's engine. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Skanda Sashti (2019)According to Hindu mythology, Shiva cast his seed into fire, where it was afterwards received by the river goddess Ganga (the Ganges River), who "gave birth" to Skanda. He was born for the purpose of destroying Taraka, and Skanda Sashti celebrates Taraka's defeat. The focus of the celebration is the six holy places in southern India associated with Skanda, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu. Hindus gather at each of these temples to sing hymns, chant psalms, and dramatize scenes from the god's life. They believe that observing this festival ensures success, prosperity, happiness, and peace. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: readinessimpromptu - Based on Latin in promptu, "in readiness," from promptus, "prepared, ready." More... procinct - A state of readiness or preparation. More... stand by - Meaning "to await, support," it was an order to hold one's self in readiness, recorded from 1669. More... gear - Its etymological meaning is "that which puts one in a state of readiness." More... | |