Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, August 23, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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AdjunctsAdjuncts are parts of a sentence that are used to elaborate on or modify other words or phrases in a sentence. What are misplaced modifiers? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Pointe ShoesWomen began to dance in ballets in 1681, but dancing en pointe—on the tips of the toes—was a 19th-century development that necessitated a new type of shoe. Pointe shoes have two special features that enable this sort of dancing: the box and shank. The box, made of layers of paper or fabric, encases and supports the dancer's toes and forms a platform upon which she may balance. The shank, meanwhile, provides arch support. How long does a pair of pointe shoes typically last? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Baltic Way: Millions Join Hands (1989)In 1989, more than a million people formed a human chain more than 373 miles (600 km) long across the three Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Known as the "Baltic Way," the demonstration marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, an agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany that secretly divided Poland and gave the Soviet Union control of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland. When did the Soviet Union finally admit the existence of the secret protocol? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Eleftherios Venizelos (1864)Often called "the maker of modern Greece," Venizelos was a Greek revolutionary who became a prominent statesman. After leading an assembly to declare the union of Crete with Greece in 1905, he went to Athens and won an extraordinary popular following. During his first term as Greek premier, he completed the revision of the constitution and led Greece through the Balkan Wars, in which its territory and population were doubled. Facing rebellion in 1935, he fled to France. When did he die? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a hard pill to swallow— Something, especially a fact or piece of news, that is unpleasant or difficult but which is unavoidable or must be accepted. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Vulcanalia (2023)Vulcan was the ancient Roman god of volcanic or destructive fire. The Vulcanalia, or festival in honor of Vulcan, was held on August 23, right at the time of year when forest fires might be expected and when the stored grain was in danger of burning. For this reason, Vulcan's cult was very prominent at Ostia, where Rome's grain was stored. At the Vulcanalia, which was observed in Egypt, in Athens, and in Rome, the priest or flamen Volcanis performed a sacrifice, and the heads of families burned small fish they had caught in the Tiber River. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: stuffedfarctated, farctate - A farctated diner is one who cannot eat another bite; if you are farctate, you are stuffed to the gills or bloated from eating a large meal. More... pimola - An olive stuffed with sweet red pepper. More... gefilte fish - Not a species, but a fish loaf made from various kinds of ground fish and other ingredients; the first word is from Yiddish, from German gefullte, "stuffed." More... pudding - Originally a sausage—the stomach or intestine of a pig, sheep, etc.—stuffed with other food. More... | |