Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, May 1, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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balustrade
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Auxiliary VerbsA modal auxiliary verb is used to change the meaning of other verbs by expressing possibility, likelihood, ability, permission, obligation, or future intention. How many "true" modal auxiliary verbs are there? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 SunflowersThe sunflower is a plant native to the New World and common throughout the US. Its stem can grow up to 10 ft (3 m) tall, and its flower head, commonly having yellow rays, can reach 1 ft (30 cm) in diameter. The sunflower was domesticated around 1000 BCE in the Americas, where the Incas venerated it as an image of their sun god, and it reached Europe in the 16th century. It is valued today for its oil-bearing seeds that can be made into bread. The sunflower is the state flower of what US state? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 General Mills Introduces Cheerios as CheeriOats (1941)General Mills introduced its oat-based, ready-to-eat cold cereal as CheeriOats but, in 1946, changed its name to Cheerios because of a trademark dispute with Quaker Oats. Today, it comes in nearly a dozen different flavors and is marketed to children as well as adults. It has used several different characters in its advertising over the years, including Charlie Brown from Peanuts. Why did the US Food and Drug Administration call Cheerios an "unapproved new drug" in 2009? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joseph Heller (1923)As a bombardier with the US Air Force during World War II, American writer Joseph Heller flew 60 combat missions. He drew on his wartime experiences when writing his darkly humorous novel Catch-22 (1961), a satiric commentary on the absurdity of war and bureaucracy. One of the most significant works of postwar protest literature, it was a huge critical success. What did Heller famously reply when asked why he had not written anything else as good as Catch-22? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms. The passions may rage furiously, like true heathens, as they are; and the desires may imagine all sorts of vain things: but judgment shall still have the last word in every argument, and the casting vote in every decision.Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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high note— The most successful, impressive, or climactic point (of something). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Marshall Islands Constitution Day (2020)In 1943, during World War II, the Allied forces invaded the Marshall Islands; at the end of the war, the United States was given effective power there. On May 1, 1979, the Marshall Islands constitution was signed, establishing it as a self-governing country. Constitution Day is a public holiday in the Marshall Islands. On this day of celebration, people gather together for a parade to commemorate their independence. Field-day contests are held between all private and public schools, entities within the community itself, and more. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: mysterybags of mystery - Slang for sausage. More... mystery - Traces back to Greek mustikos, "secret," and musterion, "secret rites"; the lesser-known meaning of mystery as "handicraft; art" is part of the phrase "mystery play." More... mystify - Derived from mystery or mystic. More... rune - An ancient alphabet letter, it is from Old English run, "secret, mystery." More... | |