Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, September 20, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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prophylactic
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Good vs. WellA common stumbling block for native speakers and learners of English alike is the correct usage of "good" versus "well." In most instances, good is an attributive adjective directly describing a noun. What is "well"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Lapis LazuliLapis lazuli is a semiprecious stone prized since antiquity for its intense blue color. It has been mined in Afghanistan for 6,500 years, and the discovery of artifacts at several Predynastic Egyptian and Neolithic sites indicates widespread early trade in the stone. Powdered lapis was used until the 19th century to make blue pigment and may have even been used as eye shadow by Cleopatra. Today, much of what is sold as lapis lazuli is actually dyed jasper. Where does lapis lazuli get its name? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Saladin Begins Siege of Jerusalem (1187)Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders in 1099 during the First Crusade and served as the capital of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem for most of the 12th century, but it was besieged and captured by Saladin, the Kurdish Muslim warrior and Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, after his decisive victory at Hattin in 1187. The Crusaders negotiated a surrender, and the two parties agreed to a peaceful handover of the city to Saladin, preventing the sort of massacre that had occurred when? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 James Dewar (1842)Dewar was a British chemist and physicist best known for his work on the properties of matter at very low temperatures and the liquefaction of gases. In the course of his work, he liquefied and solidified hydrogen and invented the Dewar flask. Used for storing liquefied gases, his Dewar flask—a double-walled flask with an insulating vacuum between the inner and outer walls—became essential in low-temperature scientific work. What everyday item was patterned after Dewar's flask? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 When we look back, the only things we cherish are those which in some way met our original want; the desire which formed in us in early youth, undirected, and of its own accord.Willa Cather (1873-1947) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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concrete jungle— An overcrowded, unsafe and/or crime-ridden urban environment or city, characterized by the congestion of large buildings and roads. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Carthaginians and Romans Fiesta (2017)Cartegena, located on the Mediterranean Sea in southeastern Spain, is an ancient city steeped in the history of the Carthaginian and Roman Empires. Today, for 10 days in late September, thousands of local people celebrate the Carthaginians and Romans Fiesta by dressing in period costume and reenacting this pivotal era in history. The festivities open with a ceremonial lighting of a sacred fire, and over the next several days, festival attendees witness a series of reenactments, including a Roman circus and the victorious march by the Roman Legions through the streets of Cartegena. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: weddingepithalamium - A poem written to celebrate a wedding. More... confetti - It is the plural of Italian confetto, "small sweet," as it was originally real or imitation bon-bons thrown during a carnival or after a wedding. More... morganatic - A survival of an ancient Germanic marriage custom, a gift on the morning after the wedding from husband to wife called morgangeba, "morning" and "give"; it now describes a marriage between people of different social status, especially a man of superior rank and woman of inferior rank. More... nuptial - From Latin nuptiae, "wedding," from nubere, "to marry." More... | |