Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, June 7, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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feisty
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Forming Plural NounsPlurals of nouns are used to indicate when there is more than one person, place, animal, or thing. The normal method for making nouns plural is to add an "-s" at the end of the noun. When do we add "-es" to render a noun plural? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Kurt WennerWenner is an American artist best known for his highly realistic, three-dimensional street art drawn using chalk. He produced his first chalk drawings on sidewalks in Rome after moving there in 1982 to study classical art. While he is not the only artist to have created anamorphic illusions in chalk, Wenner transformed the art form with his Renaissance-style mythical and religious scenes. He has also created advertisements. What work did Wenner do for NASA before studying in Rome? 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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 In civilized life, where the happiness and indeed almost the existence of man, depends so much upon the opinion of his fellow men. He is constantly acting a studied part.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| 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... | |