Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, November 23, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cerement
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Comparative Adverbs from One-Syllable AdverbsThere are simple rules that tell us which method of creating comparative adverbs is correct. In general, when the adverb has only one syllable, how do we make it comparative? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The De Havilland VampireThe de Havilland Vampire, which made its maiden flight in September 1943, was the first Royal Air Force fighter with a top speed exceeding 500 mph (805 km/h). Although it never saw service during World War II—it was still in development at the war's end—it is credited with a number of aviation firsts, including becoming the first jet to take off from and land on an aircraft carrier and to fly across the Atlantic. Which major Western powers were the only ones not to use this type of aircraft? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Hijacking of EgyptAir Flight 648 (1985)Minutes after taking off from an Athens airport on November 23, 1985, EgyptAir Flight 648 was hijacked by five Palestinian terrorists. The plane was forced to land in Malta, where authorities attempted to negotiate with the hijackers. The terrorists shot two Israelis and three Americans before Egyptian commandos launched a disastrous raid in which nearly 60 hostages were killed. Remarkably, three of the passengers shot by the terrorists survived. How did one of the terrorists almost escape? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Arthur Adolph "Harpo" Marx (1888)Harpo was a member of the American comedy team known as the Marx Brothers. The brothers enjoyed success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from the early 1900s to about 1950. Harpo never spoke during their performances and instead blew a horn, whistled, or mimed to communicate. He also got laughs with his prop-laden sight gags, many of which involved the seemingly infinite number of odd items he managed to produce from his topcoat's oversized pockets. How did he get his nickname? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
a sly dog— Someone who, through cunning, devious, or dishonest means, achieves a fortuitous outcome. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Tellabration (2019)A nationwide night of storytelling, Tellabration was started in 1988 by storyteller J. G. ("Paw-Paw") Pinkerton. The event began with storytelling in six communities in Connecticut. The next year, Texas and Missouri also had Tellabrations, and by 1991, storytelling on this night was happening in 72 communities in 27 states, as well as in locations in Bermuda and Canada. Eventually, the length of Tellabrations extended to a weekend. Proceeds of the event go toward developing the archives of Storytelling Foundation International in Jonesborough, Tennessee. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: providedub - Meaning "to provide a film with a soundtrack," it is an abbreviation of "double." More... endow - First meant "provide a dower or dowry." More... refurbish, refurnish, redecorate, renovate - Refurbish means to "clean up again," refurnish means "to provide with new furnishings," redecorate means "to add new decoration(s)," and renovate means "renew or restore to as-new condition." More... improvise - Etymologically, if you improvise something, it is because it has not been "provided" for in advance, from Latin improvisus, "unforeseen." More... | |