Daily Content Archive

(as of Wednesday, April 20, 2022)
Word of the Day

cantabile

Definition:(adjective) In a smooth, lyrical, flowing style.
Synonyms:singing
Usage: The last part of the movement, a sweet, cantabile passage, resonated with the young audience.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Forming Compound Nouns

Compound nouns are formed by combining two or more words, with the most common combinations being noun + noun or adjective + noun. However, combinations using other parts of speech are also possible. What are they? More...
Article of the Day

Cryptography

Cryptography concerns the securing of information, often during communication, by translating messages into cipher or code. Ciphering has always been considered vital for diplomatic and military secrecy—the Bible is replete with examples of ciphering, and many figures throughout history have written in ciphers, including Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Mary Queen of Scots, and Louis XIV. What legal issues and controversies surround cryptography methods in the 21st century? More...
This Day in History

The Columbine High School Massacre (1999)

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were seniors at Colorado's Columbine High School when they carried out one of the deadliest school shootings in US history, killing 12 students and one teacher and injuring 21 others before taking their own lives. The incident, widely covered by the media, stirred debate about the pair's motivation for the killings, the availability of firearms, and the role of bullying, video games, and music in acts of violence. For what crime had the two been previously arrested? More...
Today's Birthday

Philippe Pinel (1745)

After moving to Paris in 1778, Pinel, a French physician, was appointed director of the Bicêtre and Salpêtrière hospitals. His experiences there prompted him to advocate for the humane treatment of mentally ill persons—then called the insane—and for the empirical study of mental disease. He further contributed to the development of psychiatry by establishing the practice of thoroughly documenting psychiatric case histories for research. What initially inspired Pinel's interest in mental illness? More...
Quotation of the Day
Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative.

H.G. Wells (1866-1946)

Idiom of the Day

in the sticks

In the countryside, especially in a rustic or particularly unsophisticated area. More...
Today's Holiday

National Poetry Month (2024)

Established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, this month-long event centers attention on the contributions and accomplishments of American poets. It is celebrated primarily by educational institutions, libraries, bookstores, and nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and Canada, and its activities include poetry readings, poetry festivals, displays and exhibits, workshops, and other events designed to help Americans of all ages learn more about poetry and its place in our contemporary culture. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: pity

alms - Goes back to Greek eleemosune, "compassion, pity," and eleos, "mercy." More...

bemoan, lament - Bemoaning is motivated when pity or grief is over an event that is joined to a consequence, whereas lamenting is motivated when the grief is over the event itself. More...

pity, piety - Pity and piety shared the meanings "compassion" and "dutifulness, reverence" for a while. More...

ruth, ruthless, ruthful - Ruth, meaning "compassion, pity," is part of ruthless and ruthful. More...

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