Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, June 23, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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vituperation
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Possessive Reciprocal PronounsWhen we wish to make reciprocal pronouns possessive, we always treat them as singular. What ending is added to show possession? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Crocodile BirdThe Egyptian plover is commonly called the "crocodile bird" because of a legend attributed to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. Supposedly, these birds would pick scraps from the teeth of crocodiles, and, in exchange for the dental service, grateful crocodiles would refrain from eating the plovers. Despite anecdotal evidence, the legend is unconfirmed. Instead of being incubated, plover eggs are buried beneath a small layer of warm sand. By what unusual method do plover chicks drink water? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 College Board Administers the First SAT Exam (1926)The SAT is a standardized test used in college admissions in the US. Developed by Carl Brigham, a Princeton psychologist who worked on the US Army's IQ test, the first Scholastic Aptitude Test was administered in 1926 to over 8,000 test-takers—60% of whom were male. Criticized as being biased toward whites, males, and the middle class, the exam has been modified over the years to improve fairness. Still, its value as a predictor of success in college is debated. What does "SAT" stand for today? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alan Mathison Turing (1912)Turing was a groundbreaking English mathematician and logician who worked on artificial intelligence (AI), among other things. He created the Turing test to determine whether a computer is capable of humanlike thought. His papers on the subject are widely acknowledged as the foundation of research in AI. He also did valuable work in cryptography during WWII, helping to break the German Enigma code. In the midst of his pioneering work, Turing committed suicide after being convicted of what crime? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 If any question why we died, tell them, because our fathers lied.Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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high-handed— Haughtily presumptuous; arrogantly or inconsiderately overbearing. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Windjammer Days (2020)The annual Windjammer Days Festival in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, celebrates the U.S. Coast Guard's 200 years of service to coastal Maine. The festival is also a salute to the large sailing merchant ships that once carried trade along the New England coast. There is an antique boat parade as well as tours of Navy and Coast Guard ships. Band concerts, seafood, and fireworks add to the merrymaking. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: silenceobmutescence, obmutescent - Obmutescence is the act of becoming mute or silent—usually a stubborn, willful act; if you are inclined to silence, you are obmutescent. More... oyez - Meaning a call for silence and attention, it descends from Anglo-Norman oyez/oiez, "to hear" or "hear ye." More... silential - Describing something performed in silence. More... omerta - The code of silence in the Mafia, from the Italian word for "humility." More... | |