Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, April 10, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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mutable
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Active VoiceThe active voice is a type of grammatical voice in which the subject of a sentence is also the agent of the verb—that is, it performs the action expressed by the verb. Why is the active voice typically preferable to the passive voice? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Congreve RocketAfter the British first encountered rocketry in the 1790s in India during the Mysore Wars, Sir William Congreve was asked to develop a similar weapon for Britain. He created the Congreve rocket, which was guided by a long pole, much like a bottle rocket—and was similarly unpredictable. Still, its relatively long range of 2 miles (3 kilometers) was unprecedented, and it had a major impact on the development of modern warfare. What famous American song was inspired by Congreve rockets in action? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Arbor Day Celebrated (1872)Generally observed on the last Friday in April, Arbor Day is an unofficial US holiday designated as a day for planting trees. The holiday was founded by agriculturist Julius Sterling Morton, a Nebraska resident who believed that the prairies were in need of more trees to serve as windbreaks, hold moisture in the soil, and provide lumber for housing. To this end, he proposed that a specific day be set aside for the planting of trees. About how many trees were planted on the first Arbor Day? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joseph Pulitzer (1847)Born in Hungary, Pulitzer immigrated to the US during the Civil War and served in the Union Army. He later became a reporter and purchased and founded several newspapers, establishing the pattern of the modern newspaper by combining investigative reporting with publicity stunts, self-advertising, and sensationalism. In his will, he established the Pulitzer Prizes, annual awards for achievements in American journalism, letters, and music. What famous saying about journalism is attributed to him? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Men regard it as their right to return evil for evil—and, if they cannot, feel they have lost their liberty.Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in (someone's) view— In someone's opinion. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Salvation Army Founder's Day (2024)April 10 is the day on which William Booth (1829-1912), founder of the international religious and charitable movement known as The Salvation Army, was born in Nottingham, England. With the help of his wife, Catherine, he established the East London Revival Society, which soon became known as the Christian Mission and later The Salvation Army. Although Booth's birthday is observed to varying degrees at Salvation Army outposts around the world, a major celebration was held on the organization's centennial in 1965. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: songsepisode - First a Greek dialogue between two songs, it is from eis, "into," and hodos, "way." More... lyric poetry - Characterized by an expression of the poet's personal feelings—and originally descriptive of songs accompanied by the lyre (examples are John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley). More... melodrama - Meaning "song play," it has a Greek origin—from melos, "music, song"—and it started out as a sensational play interspersed with songs. More... vaudeville - Comes from a French composer calling his songs "chanson du Vau de vire"—"song of the valley of Vire (in Normandy)"—later shortened to "vau de ville." More... | |