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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 Founding of the Illuminati (1776)The Illuminati were members of a rationalistic society founded in Germany by Adam Weishaupt. Having close affinities with the Freemasons and seemingly organized on a Masonic plan, the group was briefly very popular among German rationalists but had limited influence. The Roman Catholic Church, which Weishaupt left in his youth and rejoined before his death, condemned the Illuminati. In 1785, the Bavarian government dissolved the organization. What conspiracy theories involve the Illuminati? 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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 Vappu (2016)Vappu is a national holiday and celebration of the coming of spring in Finland. This traditional festival is also Labor Day, and factories that are said to "never close" do close on May 1 (and Christmas Day). For students, the "anything goes" celebration begins at midnight on the eve of May Day, called Vapunaatto, when they wear white student caps and indulge in anything not indecent or criminal. There are balloons, streamers, horns, and masks everywhere, and few get much sleep. On May Day itself, the students lead processions through the streets of Helsinki, and then enjoy carnivals and concerts. 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... | |