Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, June 4, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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inebriety
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Aspects of the Present TenseWe use different aspects with verbs in the present tense to describe exactly how an event is structured in relation to the present moment in time. What is the present simple structure used to express? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Al-Azhar UniversityLocated in Cairo, Egypt, Al-Azhar University was founded in 972 CE as a madrasa—a place of Islamic learning. By teaching numerous subjects in the same place, it was one of the first universities in the world and the only one to survive as a modern university. Historically, students primarily studied the Qur'an and Islamic law. Today, the university is the world's chief center of Arabic literature and Islamic learning. When did it begin teaching a wide range of secular subjects? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Chinese Warlord Zhang Zuolin Is Assassinated (1928)Zhang was a Chinese warlord who became ruler of Manchuria with the tacit support of the Japanese after his militia backed them in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–05. By the mid-1920s, his Fengtien army had gained power in Beijing, but Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Nationalists forced him out in 1928, and the Japanese began to doubt his authority over his Chinese countrymen. He was assassinated during his retreat to Shenyang when his train was bombed. Who planted the bomb, and why? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Cogwagee, AKA Thomas Charles Longboat (1887)An Onondaga from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Longboat made a name for himself as a champion long-distance runner. In 1906, he won his first major event, the Around the Bay Road Race. The next year, he finished the Boston Marathon in record time, shaving minutes off the previous record. He disappointed at the 1908 Olympics but went on to earn the title of Professional Champion of the World in a 1909 marathon. How did he put his talent to use during WWI? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The very essence of an instinct is that it is followed independently of reason.Charles Darwin (1809-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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leave home— To cease living with one's parents; to strike out on one's own. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tiananmen Square Anniversary (2021)Each year thousands of people in Hong Kong, China, gather on June 4 to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre with a candlelight vigil. On that day in 1989, Chinese government tanks rolled into Beijing's Tiananman Square, killing hundreds of demonstrators calling for democratic reforms in China, and injuring 10,000 more. Since 1997, the Chinese government has discouraged the Hong Kong commemorations and pressured foreign news correspondents not to cover the yearly event. In the year 2002 about 45,000 people attended the vigil. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tree trunkpirogue - A canoe made from a tree trunk. More... tree ring - Any of the concentric rings of the cross-section of a tree trunk, representing a year's growth, or the layer of wood produced by a year's growth in a woody plant; also called annual ring. More... block - Derives from Middle Dutch blok, "tree trunk." More... snag - Literally first meant a stump on a tree trunk or a piece of timber underwater that obstructed navigation. More... | |