Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, March 11, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
comestible
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Zero ConditionalThe zero conditional refers to conditional sentences in which the "if clause" and the main clause both contain conditional verbs that are in the simple present tense. What is the zero conditional used to talk about? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The TamburaThe tambura is a pear-shaped, unfretted lute, usually with four strings, used as a drone in Indian music. It produces a characteristic buzzing sound that is used to set the harmonic foundation for a song without contributing to the melody. The Indian tambura may be related to the Turkish tambur as well as many other similarly-named Asian lutes. Though readily available, electronic tamburas are seen as inferior. Many tamburas are carved from wood, but some are made of what other organic material? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Spanish Flu Pandemic Begins (1918)One of the most devastating pandemics in human history, the Spanish flu was first observed at Fort Riley, Kansas, which was home to some of the tens of thousands of soldiers waiting to be deployed to Europe for combat in World War I. It came to be known as the Spanish flu after spreading to Spain, but its reach was global. Estimates vary, but at least 20 million people died from the pandemic. What was the only sizable, inhabited place in the world that had no documented outbreak? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Douglas Adams (1952)Best known as the creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which began as a BBC radio series in 1978 and was thereafter adapted for a series of bestselling novels, a TV series, a record album, a computer game, and several stage productions, Douglas Adams was a talented writer and musician. Though his career was cut short by a fatal heart attack, he left behind a creative legacy that includes the "answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything." What is it? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 It is very difficult to be wholly joyous or wholly sad on this earth. The comic, when it is human, soon takes upon itself a face of pain; and some of our griefs...have their source in weaknesses which must be recognized with smiling compassion as the common inheritance of us all.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
be left (out) in the cold— To be ignored, forgotten, or excluded, as from a group, activity, benefit, etc. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Moshoeshoe's Day (2021)Moshoeshoe (c. 1790-1870) was a leader in South Africa who organized a group of tribes to fight the Zulu warlord Shaka. He called his followers the Basotho people, and although they succeeded in fending off the Zulu, they were drawn into war with Europeans who started settling their territory. In 1966, the Basotho nation became the independent kingdom of Lesotho within the British Commonwealth. The Basotho people honor their founder on this day with a wreath-laying ceremony in the capital city of Maseru, along with sporting events and traditional music and dancing. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: saddleapishamore - A blanket used under a saddle. More... col - A saddle between two mountain peaks, from Latin collum, "neck." More... caparison - A cloth or covering spread over the saddle or harness of a horse, often ornamented; this word can also mean "housings, trappings." More... larigos - The rings on a saddle through which the straps pass. More... | |