Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, October 7, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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venerable
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Present Simple TenseThe present simple tense (also called the simple present tense) is used when we speak about habits, general facts, and timetables. Why is it called the present "simple"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Penny-FarthingPopular in the 1880s, prior to the development of the so-called safety bicycle, the penny-farthing was an early bicycle with a large front wheel and a comparatively tiny rear one. Perched on a seat above the front wheel, the rider was unable to touch the ground with their feet. "Taking a header" was a constant danger, so some riders put their feet over the handlebars when coasting downhill to ensure that any fall forward would be feetfirst. How did one go about mounting such a contraption? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 French Statesman Leon Gambetta Flees Paris in a Balloon (1870)Gambetta was a lawyer who gained recognition as an opponent of the Second Empire of Napoleon III and, in 1869, joined the parliamentary opposition. When Napoleon's empire fell to the Germans, Gambetta organized a government of national defense to drive them out. With Paris under a grueling German siege, he made a spectacular escape to Tours in a balloon, where he continued fighting the Germans as minister of the interior and of war. Gambetta died shortly after being wounded in what accident? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Niels Bohr (1885)Bohr was a Danish physicist who was among the first to recognize the importance of an element's atomic number. He was also the first to apply the quantum theory to atomic and molecular structure, and his concept of the atomic nucleus was a key step in understanding nuclear fission. He won a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922 for his work on atomic theory. Though he contributed to atomic bomb research during World War II, he later devoted himself to arms control. What element is named in his honor? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 He who throws away a friend is as bad as he who throws away his life.Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have (someone's) blood on (one's) head— To be the cause of (someone's) death; to bear the guilt or responsibility of (someone's) death or injury. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Okunchi Matsuri (2023)The Okunchi Festival in Nagasaki dates back to the 17th century, when many Chinese lived in the city and when both Dutch and Chinese traders regularly anchored their ships there. The festival pays tribute to these traders by presenting both a Dutch dance and a Chinese dragon dance, along with street fairs and other entertainment. The Okunchi Festival also features the traditional procession of the mikoshi—the ornate palanquin on which the local deity is believed to descend for a ride as it is carried through the streets. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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