Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, May 1, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Mitigators vs. IntensifiersMitigators are the opposite of intensifiers, which are used to increase the intensity of the words they modify. "Very" is an example of an intensifier. What are some others? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 QuinceañeraThe Quinceañera is, in many Spanish-speaking regions of the Americas, the celebration of a young woman's fifteenth birthday and marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. In this latter respect, the Quinceañera is similar to the "sweet sixteen" or debutante ball of the English-speaking world. Observed differently in different countries, Quinceañera festivities range from modest religious ceremonies to lavish, wedding-style celebrations. What is the origin of the tradition? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Founding of the Illuminati (1776)The Illuminati were members of a rationalistic society founded in Germany by Adam Weishaupt. Having close affinities with the Freemasons and seemingly organized on a Masonic plan, the group was briefly very popular among German rationalists but had limited influence. The Roman Catholic Church, which Weishaupt left in his youth and rejoined before his death, condemned the Illuminati. In 1785, the Bavarian government dissolved the organization. What conspiracy theories involve the Illuminati? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Calamity Jane (1852)Born Martha Jane Canary, Calamity Jane was a legendary American frontierswoman. She grew up in Montana and worked in mining camps, where she acquired riding and shooting skills. In 1876, she appeared in Deadwood, South Dakota, the site of new gold strikes, boasting of her marksmanship and her exploits as a pony-express rider and as a scout with Custer's forces. It was there that she likely met Wild Bill Hickok, who would become her companion. How did Jane claim to have acquired her nickname? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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fingers crossed— An expression of hope that something one desires will come to pass or turn out to be true. A truncated version of the phrase "keep your fingers crossed." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Beltane (2024)Beltane is the Celtic name for the first day of May, which divided the ancient Celtic year in half. It was believed that each day began with the setting of the sun the night before, so Beltane was celebrated by lighting bonfires to honor the sun god. Contact with the fire was symbolic of contact with the life-giving sun. The day is still observed in parts of Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, Wales, Brittany, and the Isle of Man, with most of the celebrations revolving around fire and reflecting ancient fertility rites. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: notchcrenelation, crenelle - A crenelation (from Latin crena, "notch") is a series of indentations or loopholes around the top of a castle, battlement, or wall—with each indentation being a crenelle (or crenel). More... carf, kerf - A cut or notch in timber is a carf or kerf—which are also used to describe the width of such a cut. More... dent - As in "notch," it comes from the French word for tooth; its original meaning was "blow, stroke" in general. More... score - First a notch used to keep count, as on a stick. More... | |