Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, June 1, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
nadir
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Defining Semi-Modal Auxiliary VerbsSemi-modal auxiliary verbs are verbs that sometimes behave like modal auxiliary verbs. Like the "proper" modal verbs, they are used with the base form of verbs (the infinitive without "to") to create a unique meaning. What is the complete list of semi-modal verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Hannah SzenesDuring World War II, Hannah Szenes was one of 17 Jews living in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine who were trained by the British army to parachute into Yugoslavia to help save the Jews of Hungary. She was arrested at the Hungarian border, imprisoned, tortured, and eventually executed. Szenes is regarded as a national heroine in Israel, where streets are named after her and her poetry is widely known. One of her songs was used to close versions of what film? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Farhud Begins (1941)During the Farhud, the pogrom carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad after the fall of the short-lived pro-Nazi government of Rashid Ali, rioters killed about 200 Jews and injured hundreds more. It took place during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and, according to some, marked a turning point for Iraq's 150,000 Jews, who were thereafter targeted for persecution. Jews had lived in Iraq since about 600 BCE, but by 1951, 80% had left. How many Jews are thought to live in Baghdad now? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 John Marshall Harlan (1833)After commanding a Union regiment in the American Civil War, Harlan served as a state attorney general before being appointed to the Supreme Court by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877. During his tenure, which lasted until his death in 1911, he became the court's outstanding liberal justice and one of the most forceful dissenters in its history. His best-known dissenting opinion came in Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Supreme Court established what infamous doctrine? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 In order to move others deeply we must deliberately allow ourselves to be carried away beyond the bounds of our normal sensibility.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
be still in the game— To remain a contender for success despite setbacks or difficulties. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Samoa Independence Day (2024)Samoa (called Western Samoa until 1997) gained independence from New Zealand on January 1, 1962. Because the rainy season in Samoa comes in January, however, celebrations are held in June on the first day of the month. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: highesttop note - The highest in a piece of music or in a singer's vocal range. More... paramount, tantamount - Paramount means "primary, top," and tantamount means "equivalent to, same as"; paramount first meant "highest in jurisdiction." More... prime - Unusual since it can have virtually opposite meanings: "preliminary, basic" or "lowest"—as well as "finest" and "highest." More... supreme - Ultimately from Latin supra, "above," which begat supremus, "highest." More... | |