Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, March 5, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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tutelage
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Concrete Countable NounsMany concrete nouns are countable, such as "cup," "dog," and "doctor." Each of these can be considered as an individual, separable item, which means that we are able to count them with numbers. We can also use them with indefinite articles. What are the two indefinite articles in English? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The "Rat-Squirrel"When scientists discovered the Laotian rock rat, a large, rat-like creature with a thick, hairy tail, they believed that the animal was so different from known rodents that it warranted classification in a new, distinct family called Laonastidae. Shortly thereafter, another group of experts published their assertion that the animal was actually a member of the ancient fossil family Diatomyidae. Under what urban circumstances did researchers find the first Laotian rock rat specimens? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech (1946)The phrase "Iron Curtain" refers to the political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the USSR after WWII to seal itself and its dependent eastern European allies off from contact with the West. Churchill's use of the phrase in a 1946 speech at a US college, though initially perceived as antagonistic, popularized the term. The Iron Curtain largely ceased to exist in 1990, when the communists of eastern Europe finally abandoned one-party rule. What are some earlier uses of the phrase? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gerardus Mercator (1512)Mercator was a Flemish geographer, mathematician, and cartographer who perfected the first map using the Mercator projection, the translation of the spherical earth to a two-dimensional flat plane. In it, parallels and meridians are rendered as straight lines spaced to produce an accurate ratio of latitude to longitude at any point. It permits mariners to steer a course over long distances without continually adjusting compass readings. What map-related term was coined by Mercator? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I keep six honest serving-men(They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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let me tell you— Used to emphasize a statement. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Tlacaxipehualiztli (Festival of Xipe Totec) (2024)Among the Aztec Indians of Mexico, Xipe Totec was a god of war. The observance of his festival took place in March according to the Gregorian calendar. Xipe Totec was often referred to as "Our Lord the Flayed One" (or, "the Flayer"), and images of him show the god wearing a human skin. The Festival was an occasion for Aztec warriors to mimic the god. They killed their prisoners of war and removed their skins from their bodies. They would then wear these skins for the entire 20-day month and hold mock battles, after which they would discard the now-rotting skins into caves or bury them. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: plasterdrywall, plasterboard - Drywall is a building material made of a sheet of plaster covered with heavy paper on both sides; it is also called plasterboard. More... gypsum - From Semitic, a relative or ancestor of Arabic jibs and Hebrew gephes, "plaster." More... plaster of Paris - So called because it is prepared from the gypsum of Paris, France. More... trullization - Laying on plaster with a trowel. More... | |