Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, June 16, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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polliwog
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adverbs of PlaceAdverbs of place tell us about an aspect of location associated with the action of a verb, specifying the direction, distance, movement, or position involved. Because adverbs of place are specific to actions of verbs, they cannot be used to modify adverbs or adjectives—with one exception. What is it? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Seizure Response DogsWhen their epileptic handlers experience seizures, these response dogs come to the rescue by pulling away dangerous objects, attempting to rouse them if they lose consciousness, and even summoning aid by finding another person or activating a medical alert or pre-programmed phone. Because epilepsy is such a wide-ranging condition, each dog is trained for a specific individual's needs. Studies in which dogs were trained to anticipate their owners' impending seizures have shown what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Soweto Riots (1976)In 1974, the South African government passed a decree making it mandatory for black schools to split instruction between English and Afrikaans—a language that many associated with the segregationist apartheid government. Two years later, at least 10,000 people—most of them young students—marched to Orlando Stadium in the city of Soweto to protest the change. Violence erupted when police began firing shots, and the resulting Soweto Riots continued for months. How many died during the riots? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Howard Griffin (1920)Griffin was an American author who darkened his white skin with medication and sunlamps in order to experience the racial segregation of the southern US. He described his experiences in his controversial 1961 book Black Like Me, which details his interactions with others—both white and black—and the problems he encountered while traveling and attempting to meet basic needs. It is often recounted that Griffin died from skin cancer resulting from his efforts to darken his skin. Is it true? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory...The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak…We are, to be sure, a miracle every way; but our powers of recollecting and of forgetting do seem peculiarly past finding out.Jane Austen (1775-1817) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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bless your pointy little head— A condescending phrase used to patronize someone for being foolish or not very bright. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bloomsday (2021)James Joyce's novel Ulysses describes the events of a single day in Dublin: June 16, 1904. First published in Paris in 1922, Ulysses caused an uproar when it finally did appear in Ireland. But since 1954, Bloomsday—named after the novel's main character, Leopold Bloom—has been a Joycean feast day, observed with a number of events throughout Dublin that commemorate its illustrious author and the lives of his characters. There is a ritual pilgrimage along the path followed by Bloom, public readings from the novel, costume parties, and parades. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sacrificeoffer - Originally meant "to present or sacrifice something to a religious entity." More... sacrifice - From Latin sacrificium, related to sacrificus, "sacrificial," from sacer, "holy, sacred." More... oblation - Something offered to God or a god, like a sacrifice or donation, can be called an oblation. More... victim - Originally denoted a person or animal killed as a sacrifice. More... | |