Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, June 26, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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vapid
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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The SubjectThe subject is the person or thing doing, performing, or controlling the action of the verb. Every sentence requires a subject and a verb to be complete—with one exception. What is it? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 CutenessThe kind of innocent and youthful attractive beauty that we call cuteness may be a key to survival. Zoologist Konrad Lorenz, who first introduced it as a scientific concept in the study of animal behavior, argued in 1949 that cuteness—characterized by a combination of infantile features, such as big eyes, big heads, and shortened noses—triggers nurturing responses in adults, ultimately securing the survival of the species. What human behavior did Lorenz use as evidence of his theory? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" Is Published (1948)Published by the The New Yorker the same month it was written, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" instantly became one of the most controversial stories ever run by the esteemed magazine. Hundreds of outraged readers cancelled their subscriptions or wrote letters expressing their confusion and anger over the story's meaning. Now considered a classic, the chilling story matter-of-factly describes an annual lottery in a bucolic American town in which one person is selected for what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Abner Doubleday (1819)Doubleday was a US Army officer who distinguished himself in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter and saw action at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. He also served in the Mexican and Seminole Wars. He retired from the army in 1873 and wrote many articles, including two accounts of his war experiences, drawing on his 67 volumes of diaries. For years, accounts persisted that he invented the game of baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. Did he? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 We pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won, but exact their dues of work and self-denial, anxiety and discouragement.Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hit on all cylinders— To operate, perform, function, or proceed exceptionally well or at the greatest possible speed or efficiency. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Heidi Festival (2020)The town of New Glarus, Wisconsin, has celebrated the annual Heidi Festival since the 1960s. Founded in 1845 by immigrants from the Swiss canton of Glaurus, the town of New Glarus, Wisconsin, continued to attract Swiss immigrants over the years. Today it celebrates its cultural heritage in its yearly Volksfest and Heidi Festival. The Heidi Festival revolves around four performances of Heidi, Johanna Spyri's well-known play about a young Swiss shepherdess. The festival also includes opportunities to enjoy Swiss music, food, and dancing. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: ignorantignore, ignorant - Ignore and ignorant are from Latin i-, "not," and gno-, "know." More... nescient - Can mean "ignorant" or "agnostic," coming from Latin ne, "not," and scire, "know." More... nice, nicety - Nice first meant "foolish, ignorant," derived from Latin nescius, "ignorant"; nicety first meant "stupidity." More... rude - Derives from Latin rudis, "uncultivated," and first meant "uneducated, ignorant." More... | |