Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, June 7, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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viviparous
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Correlative ConjunctionsCorrelative conjunctions, or paired conjunctions, are sets of conjunctions that are always used together. Like coordinating conjunctions, they join words, phrases, or independent clauses of similar or equal importance and structure. How do they differ from coordinating conjunctions? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Mirror BoxesBetween 50 and 80 percent of amputees experience phantom limb sensations, feelings that an absent limb is still present. These sensations are often painful. In the early 1990s, neurologist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran hypothesized that the phenomenon might be caused by changes in the brain rather than in peripheral nerves and developed the mirror box to alleviate the discomfort. A simple device, it creates the visual illusion that the phantom limb has reappeared. How is this believed to help? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Supreme Court Decides Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)In 1961, Estelle Griswold, executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, opened a birth control clinic for women in deliberate defiance of an 1879 law outlawing the use or distribution of contraceptives. She was arrested and fined. Her appeal made it to the US Supreme Court, which stated in a landmark 1965 decision that married couples had a right to "marital privacy," which included the right to use birth control. When was the same right extended to unwed individuals? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George Szell (1897)Szell was a Hungarian-born conductor and pianist who immigrated to the US during WWII. Having already conducted many European orchestras, he soon became the principal conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1946, he took over the Cleveland Orchestra and, by means of his famously dictatorial approach, built it into one of the most respected ensembles in the world, famed for its precision. Nearly 20 years after Szell's death, who complained that he still got credit when the orchestra did well? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is easy to find fault, if one has that disposition. There was once a man who, not being able to find any other fault with his coal, complained that there were too many prehistoric toads in it.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have a part in (something)— To be involved in some capacity with establishing, maintaining, or running something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Blackbeard Pirate Festival (2020)The Blackbeard Pirate Festival takes place in Hampton, Virginia, on a two-day weekend in early June. The festival acknowledges Hampton's history as a key colonial port, the wealth of which attracted the notorious 18th-century Caribbean pirate Blackbeard. The festival features tours of replicas of three "tall ships" similar to the ones Blackbeard may have plundered; a street fair with live music, as well as refreshments and children's events; and several historical re-enactments such as an invasion of Hampton Harbor by pirates seeking revenge for Blackbeard's death. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: shorterstore - A shortened version of the obsolete astor, "stock of provisions, supplies." More... alligator - From Spanish el lagarto, "the lizard," which may have come from Latin lacerta; the alligator has a shorter, blunter snout than a crocodile. More... telescopic umbrella - An umbrella that can become shorter. More... dog watch - A two-hour watch on board a ship, it is based on dog sleep, the light or fitful sleep typical of dogs (a catnap being even shorter). More... | |