Daily Content Archive

(as of Monday, October 2, 2023)
Word of the Day

jalopy

Definition:(noun) An old, dilapidated motor vehicle, especially an automobile.
Synonyms:heap, bus
Usage: The jalopy didn't even make it to the junkyard, breaking into a thousand pieces as soon as we climbed inside.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Subjunctive Mood - Expressing Wishes

One of the most straightforward ways of using the subjunctive mood is when we want to describe a wish for something to be different than it is or was. How do we generally construct these sentences? More...
Article of the Day

The Eye

The eye is an organ of vision and light perception. In the human eye, the iris diaphragm regulates the size of the pupil, allowing more or less light to enter the eye as necessary. Light is focused by the combined action of the curved cornea, internal fluids, and lens. When light reaches the retina, located at the back of the eye, the light-sensitive rod and cone cells are stimulated. They, in turn, send signals to the brain via the optic nerve. How do the rods and cones differ in function? More...
This Day in History

Pasilalinic-Sympathetic Compass Demonstrated (1851)

French occultist Jacques Toussaint Benoit's pasilalinic-sympathetic compass was a contraption developed based on his belief that when two snails touch, they create a telepathic bond. His "snail telegraph" contained 24 snails, each associated with an individual letter of the alphabet as well as with a snail counterpart in a second device. One could theoretically transmit a message by touching the snails, eliciting reactions from their counterparts. What happened when he demonstrated his device? More...
Today's Birthday

Charles Albert of Sardinia (1798)

The complex and controversial king of Sardinia-Piedmont from 1831 to 1849, Charles Albert helped inspire the growing drive for Italian independence. In 1848, the spread of revolutionary ideas forced him to grant a constitution. Seeking to lead the liberation of Italy, he went to war with Austria that same year, and again in 1849, but was twice defeated. After abdicating in favor of his son, he went into exile and soon died. Charles was called the "number one enemy" of what? More...
Quotation of the Day
Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact.

Honore de Balzac (1799-1850)

Idiom of the Day

have (one's) head in the sand

To refuse to acknowledge or deal with problems, danger, or difficulty, especially in the hopes that they will resolve themselves. The phrase is a reference to ostriches, which were believed (incorrectly) to hide their heads in the ground at the sight of approaching danger. More...
Today's Holiday

Guinea Independence Day (2023)

Guinea became an independent republic on this day in 1958, after having been a French colony since the late 19th century. Independence Day is a national holiday celebrated all over the country with parades, dances, and sports competitions, especially in the capital city of Conakry. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: tricks

snow park - An area of a piste, or ski trail, created for snowboarders and skiers to do tricks. More...

intricate - From Latin in-, "into," and tricae, "tricks, perplexities." More...

monkeyshines - A combination of monkey and shines, "capers, tricks." More...

whist - The game was originally called whisk, from "whisking away" the cards after the tricks had been taken. More...

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