Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 24, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
saltpeter
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Interrogative SentencesAn interrogative sentence is simply a sentence that asks a question. Interrogative sentences always end with question marks. What are tag questions? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Mummers PlaysMummers plays, developed in England in the 17th century, are a form of traditional dramatic entertainment based on the legend of St. George and the dragon. The central theme of these plays, which are still performed in parts of Britain around Christmastime, is the death of a hero who is restored to life by a doctor. The word "mummer" has been linked to words such as mumble and mute and non-English words meaning what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 The Eastland Disaster (1915)Launched in 1903, the passenger ship Eastland was plagued with problems from the start. That year alone, the Eastland was damaged after colliding with another ship, and, in an unrelated event, its crew mutinied. Prone to instability and listing, the ship met with disaster in 1915 when it rolled over while still moored to the wharf of the Chicago River, killing more than 840 people shortly after boarding. How did the sinking of the Titanic impact the Eastland disaster? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Alexandre Dumas (1802)Dumas was a largely self-educated French novelist and dramatist whose highly romantic novels immortalizing the adventures of the Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo have delighted many generations of readers. These historical novels, written with the aid of collaborators, are often scorned by critics, who find them lacking in style and characterization, but they have had enormous popularity. In 2005, Dumas's recently discovered last novel was published. Who wrote its final chapters? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 There can be no covenants between men and lions, wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but hate each other out and out.Homer (900 BC-800 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
tighten the purse strings— To become less liberal with or more controlling of one's expenditures; to decrease the availability of money for spending purposes. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Tenjin Matsuri (2021)The Tenjin Festival in Japan honors the scholar and statesman Sugawara Michizane (845-903), who was deified as Tenjin after his death. The festival opens at the Temmangu Shrine with the beating of the Moyooshi Daiko, a drum about five feet in diameter. The drum-cart is followed by a masked figure who represents Sarutahiko, the deity who led all the other gods to Japan. Most important is the mikoshi—the decorated shrine in which the soul of Tenjin is believed to reside. In the evening, the parade moves to the river, with numerous boats carrying glowing lanterns. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: zeroaught - Another word for "nothing, zero." More... zero, cipher - Zero and cipher come from Arabic sifr, "nought, zero," from Sanskrit sunya, "empty." More... lay an egg - The egg in "to lay an egg" refers to "zero." More... googol - Coined when mathematician Edward Kasner asked his nephew to create a word for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. More... | |