Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, July 8, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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orthography
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ParenthesesParentheses are used to separate information that is not necessary to the structure or meaning of the surrounding text. When can parentheses be replaced by em dashes? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Jhumpa LahiriJhumpa Lahiri is a contemporary Indian-American (Bengali) author. Her debut, Interpreter of Maladies, addresses sensitive dilemmas in the lives of Indian immigrants, exploring themes involving marital difficulties, miscarriages, and the disconnection between first and second generation immigrants in the US. A film adaptation of her novel The Namesake was released in 2007. She has served as a vice president of what important organization? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Air Force Claims to Have Recovered a Flying Disc (1947)On July 8, 1947, an officer at the Roswell Army Air Field in New Mexico announced the recovery of a crashed flying disc, prompting the Roswell Daily Record to proclaim the "capture" of a "flying saucer." The next day, the official story changed—the debris was now simply a weather balloon. The case was ignored until 1978 when supposed witness testimony emerged, shaping the event as an alien encounter. A government investigation discredited this theory, explaining the "aliens" as what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Käthe Kollwitz (1867)Kollwitz was a German Expressionist painter, sculptor, and printmaker whose work centered on human suffering. Her initial focus was the plight of the poor, whom she encountered firsthand at her physician husband's clinic in Berlin. After their son died in World War I, however, Kollwitz channeled her depression into a cycle of prints emphasizing a mother's love and a memorial sculpture of grieving parents. Unfortunately, many of Kollwitz's drawings and prints were lost in 1943 when what happened? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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long pig— obsolete Human flesh when eaten as food by cannibals. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 San Fermin Festival (2021)The festivities surrounding this well-known festival in Pamplona, Spain, honoring the city's bishop, begin with a rocket fired from the balcony of the town hall. Bands of txistularis—with dancers, drummers, and txistu players (a musical instrument like a flute)—march through the town playing songs announcing the "running of the bulls," an event that has taken place here for 400 years. Each morning, young men, dressed in typical Basque costumes, risk their lives running through the streets ahead of the bulls being run to the bullring where the bullfights will be held. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: vegetablerareripe - Originally simply a fruit or vegetable that ripened early. More... fruit, vegetable - Fruit is the name given to those plants that have an ovary used for food; vegetable is the name given to a large category of herbaceous plants with parts used for food. More... sauerbraten, sauerkraut - In German, sauerbraten is literally "sour roast meat," and sauerkraut is "sour cabbage or vegetable." More... sweet potato, yam - The sweet potatoes and yams sold in most stores are the same vegetable—sweet potatoes are inside every mislabeled yam can; true yams are not sold anywhere except a handful of specialty grocers. More... | |