Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, November 24, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
onerous
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Adverbs Ending in "-ly"Many adverbs are formed by adding "-ly" to the end of an adjective. If an adverb has been created according to this pattern, we simply use the words "most" or "least" to make the superlative degree. What words are added to adverbs ending in "-ly" to create the comparative degree? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Yongle EncyclopediaIn 1403, Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle commissioned a massive encyclopedia project in an attempt to preserve Chinese culture and literature. About 8,000 texts were incorporated into the compendium, which covers an array of subjects including history, philosophy, art, science, and religion. Two thousand scholars worked to compile the encyclopedia, and the finished product contained nearly 23,000 manuscript rolls, or chapters, divided into more than 11,000 volumes. How many volumes survive today? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species Is Published (1859)Darwin, a British naturalist, formed the basis of his theories of evolution during his scientific survey expedition to South America aboard the HMS Beagle from 1831–1836. He developed his theory for more than 20 years before publishing it in his famous On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. Darwin's controversial theory was quickly accepted in most scientific circles. What three words were added to the final sentence of the second edition of Darwin's book? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Dale Carnegie (1888)Born into poverty, Carnegie worked as a traveling salesman before he began teaching public speaking at a YMCA in New York City in 1912. His classes were extremely successful, and he was soon lecturing to packed houses. To standardize his teaching methods, he began publishing pamphlets, which he collected into book form. His hugely popular How To Win Friends and Influence People won him a national following. How many people are said to have taken his courses during his lifetime? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The worst slave-owners were those who were kind to their slaves, and so prevented the horror of the system being realized by those who suffered from it, and understood by those who contemplated it.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
a wild goose never laid a tame egg— Something will not be spontaneously different from that which came before. The phrase is used to describe things that are determined by nature and the environment, or else inherited from the generation before. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Stir-up Sunday (2019)The collect (liturgical prayer) for the Sunday preceding Advent in the Church of England begins, "Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people." But the other "stirring up" that takes place on this day is more literal: the stirring of the batter for the traditional Christmas pudding, which must be prepared weeks in advance. It is customary for family members to take turns stirring the pudding with a wooden spoon (symbolic of Jesus's crib), which is thought to bring good luck. The stirring is done clockwise, with eyes closed, and the stirrer makes a wish. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: orbitapsis - The extreme point of an orbit. More... eccentric - First meant "not concentric" as it referred to an orbit in which the Earth was not precisely in the center or straying from a circular path; the area where two circles overlap is the eccentric. More... exorbitant - Originally a legal term for a case outside of the scope of a law; since it implies going "out of orbit," it also first meant "deviating from the true path." More... orbit - First meant "eye socket"; the eye is located in the eye socket or orbit. More... | |