Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, February 8, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Declarative Sentences vs. Imperative SentencesA declarative sentence makes a statement or argument about what is, was, or will be the case. That is, it talks about that which is asserted to be true. How do declarative sentences differ from imperative sentences? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Tightrope Between the TowersPhilippe Petit is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his illegal 1974 walk between the former Twin Towers in New York. After six years of planning, Petit used a 450-pound (204-kg) cable and a 26-foot (8-m), 55-pound (25-kg) balancing pole to make eight crossings between the still unfinished towers—walking, jumping, and lying down on the wire for more than an hour before being arrested when he returned to the tower roof. What punishment did Petit receive for his stunt? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Orangeburg Massacre (1968)In the Orangeburg massacre, local police in Orangeburg, South Carolina, fired into a crowd of about 200 people protesting segregation, killing three students and injuring 27 others. Although the incident predated the Kent State shootings and Jackson State killings and was the first incident of its kind on a US college campus, the Orangeburg Massacre received relatively little media coverage. On that day, the demonstrators were gathered to protest the segregation of what type of facility? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Kate Chopin (1851)A St. Louis, Missouri, native, Chopin moved to Louisiana when she married at the age of 20. After her husband passed away, she returned to St. Louis and began her professional writing career. Now considered a forerunner of 20th-century feminist authors, Chopin gained attention with her many short stories featuring Creole tales and New Orleans culture but virtually stopped publishing after her novel The Awakening was heavily criticized on what grounds? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I never deal in transformations, for they are not honest, and no respectable sorceress likes to make things appear to be what they are not.L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hit (something) out of the (ball)park— To do or perform something extraordinarily well; to produce or earn an exceptional achievement. An allusion to hitting a home run in baseball that lands outside the stadium. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Firecracker Festival (2024)Firecrackers are a traditional element of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year celebration, and one town really takes its firecrackers seriously. Each year 16 families are selected to compete in producing the most spectacular display for the town of Dong Ky in Vietnam's Bac Ninh Province. These are huge, elaborately decorated affairs that may require two dozen men to carry and up to $500 to create. Each firecracker is paraded through town and set up on a special tripod for firing. After all the firecrackers have been set off, a panel of judges determines the winning family. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: purposesall intents and purposes - A redundant phrase, created for emphasis. More... blamestorming - An intense discussion for the purposes of placing blame or assigning responsibility for a misdeed or failure. More... celebrant, celebrator, reveler - Celebrants take part in religious ceremonies; celebrators or revelers gather for purposes of revelry. More... teleology - The study of design in nature; the word's basic meaning is "the study of ends or purposes"—attempts to understand the purpose of a natural occurrence by looking at its results. More... | |