Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, June 20, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
macrocosm
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Grammatical PersonGrammatical person refers to the degree of involvement of a participant in an action, event, or circumstance. There are three degrees of grammatical person. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Rock ClimbingIn rock climbing, participants scale natural rock formations or artificial rock walls using ropes and special equipment—or, sometimes, just their hands and feet. Though humans have been rock climbing for millennia, the activity emerged as a sport in the 19th century. Aid climbing, in which artificial handholds and footholds are used, allowed climbers to reach heights that once seemed inaccessible. Today, the sport continues to evolve. What are some of the ethical considerations of rock climbing? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Murdered (1947)Infamous gangster Bugsy Siegel began his criminal career extorting peddlers in New York City and soon graduated to bootlegging, gambling schemes, and contract killing. In 1937, he was sent to develop rackets on the West Coast, which he did with much success. In 1945, he began building the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Originally budgeted at $1.5 million, the cost was driven to $6 million due to his skimming, angering his mob bosses. Months after the opening, Siegel was killed by whom? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, Mister Guitar (1924)Atkins got his first guitar by making a trade with his brother, and it was arguably the best deal he ever made. Although he struggled with shyness and suffered from severe asthma—he had to sleep sitting up and often fell asleep still holding his guitar—he became an accomplished guitarist and went on to release several hit records, develop a signature line of guitars, and help create country music's "Nashville sound." What did "Mr. Guitar," as he came to be known, trade to get that first guitar? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 It is when suffering finds a voice and sets our nerves quivering that this pity comes troubling us.H.G. Wells (1866-1946) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
scare the (living) daylights out of (someone)— To shock or frighten someone very suddenly and/or severely. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Eritrean Martyrs' Day (2021)Following its defeat of Ethiopian government forces in 1991 to establish national independence, Eritrea instituted an official holiday to pay tribute to those who died for the country's liberation. The struggle, which lasted from 1961 to 1991, claimed the lives of an estimated 65,000 freedom fighters and tens of thousands of civilians. Many Eritreans observe Martyrs' Day by filing into mass mourning processions that conclude at the "Martyrs' Graveyards" located throughout the country. In 1997, the government opened the National Martyrs' Park outside the capital city, Asmara. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: wavesbreach - The leap of a whale out of the water or the breaking of waves over a vessel or onto a coast; it is also the act of breaking. More... plangent - Describes the sound of the sea and its waves—reverberating and mournfully resonant. More... swaff - To come one over another, like waves upon a shore. More... lop - The state of the sea when it has waves that are short and lumpy, hence "loppy," when it is choppy and lumpy. More... | |