Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, July 9, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
stalwart
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
InfinitivesAn infinitive is the most basic form of a verb. It is "unmarked" (not conjugated for tense or person), and it is preceded by the particle "to." What is a split infinitive? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Voynich ManuscriptThe Voynich manuscript, which likely dates to the late 15th or early 16th century, is a mysterious illustrated book written by an unknown author in an unidentified script and language. Although its meaning has eluded even expert cryptographers, giving weight to the theory that the book is simply an elaborate hoax, the text follows patterns similar to those of natural languages, and the book thus remains the subject of intense study. What are some theories about its origins and meaning? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Queen Elizabeth Wakes to Find Strange Man in Her Bedroom (1982)In the early hours of July 9, 1982, 32-year-old Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace—for the second time—and entered Queen Elizabeth II's bedroom. He set off the alarm, but guards believed it to be false and turned it off. The Queen awoke when Fagan moved a curtain in her bedroom, and he talked to her while she waited for police to arrive. The officer who was supposed to be posted outside her door at the time was walking the Queen's dogs. Why was Fagan not charged for his brazen trespass? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Fanny Fern (1811)Fanny Fern was the pseudonym of Sara Willis Parton, an immensely popular American columnist and novelist known for her conversational writing style and emphasis on the everyday concerns of middle-class women. Though she had struggled to support her children after her first husband died and caused a scandal by ending her unhappy second marriage, she persevered and by 1855 commanded the unprecedented sum of $100 a week for her New York Ledger column. What famous saying is attributed to her? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Enough is equal to a feast.Henry Fielding (1707-1754) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
a long row to hoe— A particularly difficult or problematic task, situation, or set of circumstances to contend with or confront. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Nunavut Day (2021)Canada's northernmost territory of Nunavut was established on July 9, 1993, through a land claim signed by the national government and the Inuit of the Nunavut Settlement Area. Most of the day's activities take place in Nunavut's hub and capital city, Iqaluit. Festivities include barbeques, parades, traditional Inuit games, and feasts featuring local cuisine of caribou, walrus, and arctic char. In recent years, the day's program has also included organized tournaments of cribbage, checkers, and Scrabble. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: signsconjecture - First meant "the interpretation of omens or signs" or "divination," and it literally means "to throw together," that is, to produce a theory by putting together a number of facts. More... diacritic - From Greek diakrinein, "distinguish from," it denotes marks or signs that distinguish different values or sounds (pronunciations) of a letter. More... semiopathy - A tendency to read humorously inappropriate meanings into signs. More... sigla - The words for signs and abbreviations representing words. More... | |