Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, July 14, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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sinewy
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Personal Pronouns - GenderModern English is largely an ungendered language. However, a personal pronoun can be inflected for gender to correspond to the gender of the person. What type of pronouns remain gender-neutral? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Villa of the PapyriThe Villa of the Papyri, as it is now known, was a private home owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law in the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum. In 79 CE, the eruption of Vesuvius covered the entire city with volcanic ash, including the villa, which was situated halfway up the volcano’s slope. Its remains were excavated in the 18th century, and therein was found a library containing 1,785 carbonized papyrus scrolls, many of them expounding the ideas of what school of philosophy? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Storming of the Bastille (1789)The Bastille was a 14th-century fortress and a notorious state prison in Paris. In 1789, an angry mob stormed the prison, freeing the political prisoners held in the edifice that had come to symbolize the French monarchy's oppression of the people. The assault launched the French Revolution. Although the building itself was razed a year later, the Bastille became a symbol of French independence, and July 14th became a national holiday. How many prisoners were in the Bastille when it was stormed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Owen Wister (1860)Wister was an American author who is best remembered for his contributions to western fiction. A well-to-do Harvard graduate, he suffered from ill health and summered in the American West, where he gained much inspiration for his writings. His popular 1902 novel The Virginian is regarded as the first western. It tells the tale of a cattle rancher who depends on a harsh code of ethics, and it helped establish the cowboy as an American folk hero. To whom is the book dedicated? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is no use trying to sum people up. One must follow hints, not exactly what is said, nor yet entirely what is done.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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honey-mouthed— Smooth, soothing, and sweet in voice, especially in a persuasive or seductive manner or intent. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Avignon Festival (2020)The month-long Festival d'Avignon was founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar, a well-known French actor and director who selected bold and innovative productions. Throughout its evolution, the Avignon Festival has not strayed from the fresh experimentation that was Vilar's hallmark, thus continuing to attract new audiences after more than 50 years of existence. The festival presents a different program each year, with about 40 performances given in 20 venues including the Popes' Palace (Palais des Papes), cloisters, and churches, and approximately 120,000 people in attendance. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: mirrorcheval glass - A tall mirror swung on an upright frame that takes its name from French cheval, "horse"—a synonym for "supporting framework," which describes this mirror. More... catoptric - Means pertaining to a mirror, reflection, or reflector. More... mirage - From French se mirer, "be reflected," from Latin mirare, "look at"—the same root used in mirror. More... heliography - Using a mirror to send a signal. More... | |