Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, May 4, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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nonchalance
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Gender-Neutral PronounsIdentifying a single person with a pronoun if their gender is not known can be done by using the third-person plural forms (they, them, etc.) as gender-neutral alternatives to the third-person feminine/masculine forms. What is this sometimes called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Gossamer AlbatrossThe Gossamer Albatross was a human-powered aircraft built by American aeronautical engineer Paul B. MacCready. Constructed using a carbon fiber frame with polystyrene wings, the aircraft was powered using pedals to drive a large, two-bladed propeller. On June 12, 1979, amateur cyclist Bryan Allen successfully piloted it across the English Channel, completing the 22-mile (36-km) crossing in less than three hours and achieving a top speed of 18 mph (29 km/h). What was its average altitude? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The May Fourth Movement (1919)The May Fourth Movement was the first mass movement in modern Chinese history. It began with about 5,000 university students in Beijing protesting the Versailles Conference's decision to transfer former German concessions in China to Japan. Demonstrations and strikes spread, and a nationwide boycott of Japanese goods followed. The movement began a patriotic outburst of new urban intellectuals against foreign imperialists and warlords and is often cited as the seminal event that led to what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Audrey Hepburn (1929)Hepburn was a Belgian-born film actress who combined elegance with a radiant, elfin innocence. After spending World War II in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, she studied ballet and acting in London and was discovered by French writer Colette, who insisted she play the lead in Gigi on Broadway. She made her US film debut in Roman Holiday, for which she won an Academy Award, and then returned to Broadway and won a Tony Award in Ondine. What was Hepburn's last film? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Now, I hold it is not decent for a scientific gentTo say another is an ass-at least, to all intent; Nor should the individual who happens to be meant Reply by heaving rocks at him to any great extent. Bret Harte (1836-1902) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be on track— To progress or develop as planned, scheduled, or expected. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kent State Memorial Day (2024)When students at Kent State University in Ohio decided to hold a rally to protest the incursion of U.S. military forces into Cambodia during the Vietnam War, the Ohio National Guard started firing indiscriminately at the crowd. Four Kent State students were killed and nine were wounded; the eight guardsmen involved in the tragic incident were never tried. A candlelight vigil takes place at the Kent State campus every year on May 4, the anniversary of the 1970 shootings. It begins at midnight on May 3 and lasts for the next 12 hours. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: nourishmentfoster - Comes from the Germanic base for "food" and it originally meant "food, nourishment." More... inanity, inanition - Inanity is intellectual or spiritual emptiness; inanition is the lack of nourishment. More... meat - First meant "food, nourishment"—especially solid food as opposed to drink. More... nourishment - Wine or spirits given medicinally can be called nourishment. More... | |