Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, September 9, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
louver
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Modal Auxiliary Verbs - CanThe modal auxiliary verb "can" is most often used to express a person or thing’s ability to do something. When is "can do" used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Solar SailsThe electromagnetic radiation carried by solar wind exerts pressure on surfaces that absorb or reflect it. Though small, this force can be harnessed and used as a form of space propulsion requiring no fuel. Solar sails are lightweight, highly reflective devices that harness this force and, when attached to spacecrafts, may be used to modify their orbits, perform fine trajectory corrections, and even drive interplanetary flights. Has a working solar sail ever been successfully tested? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Elvis Presley Appears on The Ed Sullivan Show (1956)Presley was one of the 20th century's most popular American singers. His first national television appearance was in 1955 on Jackie Gleason's Stage Show, but it was his 1956 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that made him a national sensation. His pelvic gyrations caused a scandal but earned him thousands of adoring, often female, fans. That same year he released his first million-selling single, "Heartbreak Hotel," and starred in the first of his 33 movies, which was what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Otis Redding (1941)Redding, an American soul singer known for his emotive style, began his career with Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers and recorded his first hit, "These Arms of Mine," during time left over at the end of a Johnny Jenkins session. His biggest hit, "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," was recorded just days before he died in a plane crash at age 26. It became the first posthumous number-one single. What are some different explanations for why Redding whistles at the end of the song? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
make the best of a bad bargain— To deal with and create the best possible outcome of a bad, unfortunate, or unpleasant situation or set of circumstances. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
.svg.png) Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Father Laval (2021)This annual pilgrimage is made by thousands of people of all faiths to the shrine of Roman Catholic priest Père Jacques Désiré Laval in Port Louis, Mauritius. Father Laval came to Mauritius in 1841 and devoted himself to the spiritual improvement of the emancipated slaves until his death in 1864. The pilgrimage is held on the day of his death. It originated on the day Laval was buried, when more than 30,000 weeping people followed his bier as he was taken for burial opposite the Ste. Croix Church. A monument to him is there today, and many masses are celebrated at the shrine on the memorial day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: sakeeristic - Means "enjoying argument for its own sake," or "of or pertaining to controversy." More... fine art, commercial artwork - Fine art is any art created for its own sake, as opposed to commercial artwork. More... heaven's sake - It is heaven's sake (not heavens' sake, heaven's sakes, etc.). More... sensuous, sensual - Sensuous usually implies gratification of the senses for the sake of aesthetic pleasure; sensual usually describes gratification of the senses or physical appetites as an end in itself. More... | |