Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 17, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ampoule
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Using Exclamation Points with OnomatopoeiasWhen we use onomatopoeias (words that phonetically imitate particular sounds), we can use an exclamation point to emphasize the intensity of the sound. Where is the exclamation point placed in the sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 FerromagnetismFerromagnetism is a form of magnetism that can be acquired in an external magnetic field and is usually retained in its absence. Thus, ferromagnetic materials like iron and nickel are used to make permanent magnets. This type of magnetism is caused by spinning electrons in the atoms of the material, which act as tiny weak magnets. They align parallel to each other within small regions of the material to form areas of stronger magnetism. What other substances exhibit ferromagnetism? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Romanos Is Crowned Co-Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (920 CE)Romanos advanced through the ranks of the Byzantine military to become an influential figure in the royal court. In May 919, he arranged for the marriage of his daughter to the teenage Emperor Constantine VII and was declared "Father of the Emperor." The next year, he was crowned co-emperor, and he then made his own sons co-emperors. However, in 944, Romanos's sons arrested him and made him become a monk to prevent him from naming Constantine VII his successor. What happened to them? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 William Safire (1929)Safire was an American journalist and a speechwriter for US President Richard Nixon, who once ordered Safire's phone be tapped. In 1973, Safire became a syndicated political columnist for The New York Times, a post he held until 2005. A master of wordplay, he also wrote regularly on language-related topics. After Safire wrote a column in which he insulted a first lady, a White House aide remarked that if the president were not the president, he would have responded in what way? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Audiences are always better pleased with a smart retort, some joke or epigram, than with any amount of reasoning.Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
inner circle— A small, exclusive, and intimate group of like-minded people sharing a common goal, pursuit, or purpose. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Wright Brothers Day (2020)It was on the morning of December 17, 1903, that Wilbur and Orville Wright became the first men to fly and control a powered heavier-than-air machine. Events on December 17 traditionally include a "flyover" by military aircraft and a special ceremony held at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, a 425-acre area that features a 60-foot granite pylon on top of Kill Devil Hill, where the Wright Brothers' camp was located. The flyover takes place at precisely 10:35 a.m., the time of the original flight in 1903. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: moundcauseway - A raised path, road, or way across a wet place or stretch of water—based on causey, "a mound, embankment, or dam to retain water." More... tumulus, barrow - A tumulus is the mound of earth placed over a tomb, synonymous with barrow. More... hill of beans - Refers to the planting practice of placing the seeds in clumps in a little mound (hill) of soil. More... | |