Daily Content Archive

(as of Wednesday, October 10, 2018)
Word of the Day

mastermind

Definition:(verb) Plan and direct (a complex undertaking).
Synonyms:engineer, orchestrate, organize, direct
Usage: The finance minister will continue to mastermind economic reform.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Question Marks

Question marks ( ? ) are used to identify sentences that ask a question (technically known as interrogative sentences). What are indirect questions? More...
Article of the Day

Mungo Man

The Mungo Man was an early human inhabitant of Australia discovered at Lake Mungo in New South Wales, Australia, in 1974, when shifting sand dunes exposed his remains. Although his exact age is a matter of debate, he is believed by many to have lived approximately 40,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch—making his remains the oldest anatomically modern human remains found in Australia to date. What is significant about the method of his burial? More...
This Day in History

The Double Tenth Incident (1943)

During the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II, several Japanese ships in Singapore Harbor were sunk in an Allied raid. On October 10, or the "Double Tenth," Japanese military police arrested 57 civilian suspects—none of whom had actually been involved in the plot—and tortured them for months. Fifteen of the detainees died. After the war, 21 of the Japanese officers were charged with war crimes, eight were sentenced to death, and six received prison terms. What happened to the rest? More...
Today's Birthday

Helen Hayes (1900)

Hayes was an American actress who began her stage career at the age of five and debuted on Broadway at nine. She went on to star in Broadway productions such as Caesar and Cleopatra and became known as "the First Lady of the American Theatre." She won three Tony Awards, as well as two Academy Awards for her roles in The Sin of Madelon Claudet and Airport. Hayes is one of only a handful of people who have won a Tony, an Oscar, and what other two awards? More...
Quotation of the Day
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

Idiom of the Day

have had the biscuit

To be no longer functional or useful; to be dead or about to perish. Primarily heard in Canada. More...
Today's Holiday

Cuban Anniversary of the Beginning of the Wars of Independence (2023)

This official holiday in Cuba marks the day in 1868 when Cuba declared its autonomy from Spain. The declaration, called the Grito de Yara, began the Ten Years' War (1868-1878), which was the first of three wars that Cuba fought against Spain for its freedom. Schools and offices in Cuba are closed on this day. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: losing

idiot strings - Refers to the strings that attach mittens to prevent a child from losing one. More...

in hock - Can be traced to the card game faro, in which the last card in the box was called the hocketty card; when a player bet on a card that ended up in hock, he was at a disadvantage and was himself in hock and at risk of losing his bets. More...

jeopardy - Comes from French ieu parti, "(evenly) divided game" (from Latin jocus partitus, "divided game"), referring originally to chess, in which the chances of winning and losing are balanced. More...

pain - Originally meant punishment for a crime or offense—sometimes by losing one's head. More...

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