Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 9, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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incertitude
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Degrees of Comparison - AdjectivesAdjectives can be inflected (changed in form) to compare a quality between two nouns—this form is known as the comparative degree. What suffix is added to the end of the adjective to form the comparative degree? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 RongorongoRongorongo is a system of glyphs discovered in the 19th century on Easter Island that is believed to be a form of writing or proto-writing, though all attempts to decipher the inscriptions, found on some two dozen objects, have thus far failed. The glyphs feature a variety of stylized human, animal, vegetable, and geometric shapes. If rongorongo is found to be writing, it would be one of only three or four known independent inventions of writing in human history. How old are the inscriptions? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Freighter Destroys Part of Florida's Sunshine Skyway Bridge (1980)The original Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay was completed in 1954. A new southbound span was opened in 1971, but only nine years later, it was destroyed when the freighter Summit Venture collided with a support column during a storm, sending more than 1,200 ft (366 m) of the bridge plummeting into the bay. The collision caused several automobiles and a bus to fall 150 ft (46 m), killing 35 people. What tragedy had occurred within a mile of the bridge just months earlier? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866)Gokhale was an Indian nationalist leader. A moderate, he stressed negotiation and conciliation rather than non-cooperation or violence—views that clashed with the more militant ideas of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Gokhale was instrumental in founding the Servants of India Society, a nationalist organization whose members, sworn to poverty and obedience, were enlisted to serve as volunteers for the social, political, and economic welfare of India. To what future Indian leader was Gokhale a mentor? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and troubles. And yet when King Laugh come, he make them all dance to the tune he play.Bram Stoker (1847-1912) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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enough (something) to choke Caligula's horse— A lot of something. The phrase likely mentions Caligula because the Roman emperor was known for his penchant for excess. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) (2019)Known in Hebrew as Yom ha-Atzama'ut, this day commemorates the proclamation of independence by Palestinian Jews and the establishment of a provisional government in Israel on May 14, 1948 (5 Iyyar 5708 on the Jewish calendar). It is observed with parties, performances, and military parades as well as religious rituals, which include the reading of Psalms. A popular custom on this day for Israelis is to walk at least a short distance somewhere in the country where they have never walked before. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: marriedbenedick, benedict - A long-time bachelor who is newly married is a benedick or benedict. More... quadrigamist - Someone who has married four times. More... connubial - A synonym for "married, wedded." More... matrimony - From Latin matrimonium, "state of being married," from mater, "mother," and monium, "-mony" (state, condition). More... | |