Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, April 1, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gratify
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Defining the Question MarkQuestion marks ( ? ) are used to identify sentences that ask a question (technically known as "interrogative sentences"). Where do question marks almost always appear in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Master of the Playing CardsThe Master of the Playing Cards lived in Germany in the mid-1400s and is today recognized as the first great printmaking expert. Unusually, he was likely an artist as well as an engraver, and he possessed a distinctive artistic style. Attempts to identify him have failed. He is noted for a set of playing cards that feature finely detailed, realistic illustrations. The cards are organized into five suits, which differ entirely from the four suits used in playing cards today. What were they? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 BBC Report: Spaghetti Grows on Trees (1957)An estimated 8 million unsuspecting viewers were watching the BBC's trusted current affairs program Panorama when it aired one of the first televised hoaxes in history, a 3-minute report on the Swiss spaghetti harvest. Afterwards, the station received calls from hundreds of curious viewers, including some who wanted information on cultivating their own spaghetti plants. In the report, the year's abundant spaghetti crop was attributed to a mild winter and the near-elimination of what pest? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 William Manchester (1922)Manchester, an American historian, biographer, and bestselling author, published 18 books during his lifetime, including three popular volumes on US president John F. Kennedy. His writings have been translated into multiple languages. He served as a Marine during World War II, and his wartime experiences formed the basis for Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War. Why did Jacqueline Kennedy file a lawsuit to prevent the publication of Manchester's The Death of a President? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 It was on one of those mornings, common in early spring, when the year, fickle and changeable in its youth like all other created things, is undecided whether to step backward into winter or forward into summer.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
slanging match— A bitter argument or dispute in which each side hurls numerous insults, accusations, or verbal abuse at one another. Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 April Fools' Day (2022)There are many names for this day, just as there are many practical jokes to play on the unsuspecting. The simplest pranks usually involve children who, for example, tell each other that their shoelaces are undone and then cry "April Fool!" when the victims glance at their feet. Sometimes the media broadcast fictitious news items. British television, for example, once showed Italian farmers "harvesting" spaghetti from trees. The French call it Fooling the April Fish Day (the fool being the poisson d'avril) and try to pin a paper fish on someone's back without getting caught. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: pullingpull out all the stops - Refers to the knobs and levers on a church organ that control the pipes; pulling out all the stops will result in the full range of pitch and maximum volume. More... track - Borrowed from Old French trac, from Middle Dutch trek, "pulling," or trekken, "pull." More... traction, tractor - Traction and tractor trace back to Latin tractus, "drawing, pulling," and trahere, "draw, pull." More... tractive - Refers to power exerted in pulling, especially by a machine. More... | |