Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, November 9, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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tacit
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subjects and PredicatesSentences must always include both a subject and a predicate. The subject is the noun (a person, place, or thing) that performs, controls, or is responsible for the action of a verb. What is the predicate? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Butterfly EffectThe idea that a small change in one place can have large effects elsewhere in a complex system—for instance, that the flapping of a butterfly's wings might eventually produce a hurricane—is called the butterfly effect. A common trope in science fiction involving time travel, the butterfly effect is studied in chaos theory. The term was coined by meteorologist Edward Lorenz, the first to describe "deterministic chaos" as a shaper of weather. How did he accidentally discover the butterfly effect? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Kristallnacht (1938)In 1938, using the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris as a pretext, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels urged violent reprisals against Jews. The resulting pogrom left 91 Jews dead and hundreds injured. Some 30,000 Jewish males were arrested and taken to concentration camps, and thousands of Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues were destroyed. The incident marked a major escalation in the Nazi program of Jewish persecution, foreshadowing the Holocaust. Why is it called Kristallnacht? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Hedy Lamarr (1913)Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress known primarily for her beauty and her successful film career—including her role as Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah. However, she also co-invented an early form of spread spectrum encoding—intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder to detect or jam—in the 1940s with her neighbor, composer George Antheil. They patented the technology in 1942, but it did not come into use until later. Who introduced Lamarr to military technology? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There's enough sorrow in the world, isn't there, without trying to invent it.E. M. Forster (1879-1970) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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good for nothing— Entirely without value; of no use whatsoever. (Hyphenated if used as a modifier before a noun.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cambodia Independence Day (2023)Cambodia was a French protectorate for 90 years before it gained independence on November 9, 1953. Independence Day, which marks that event, is a national holiday. The principal celebrations are held in the capital city of Phnom Penh, beginning with a morning ceremony at Independence Monument. Later in the day, there is a gala parade held in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, with colorful floats and marching bands. Shops are adorned with national flags. After dark, a large fireworks display is held near the riverbanks of the Royal Palace. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: withdrawanchorite - Its meaning of "hermit" derived from Greek ana-, "back," and chorein, "to withdraw." More... cease, cede - Cease and cede come from Latin cedere, "go away, withdraw." More... retire - From French retirer, from re-, "back" and tirer, "throw," its first sense was "withdraw to a place of safety or seclusion." More... take for the kitchen - To withdraw from a conversation or to remain silent. More... | |