Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, April 11, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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platitude
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Intensifiers vs. MitigatorsIntensifiers are the opposite of mitigators, which are used to decrease the intensity of the words they modify. What is the mitigator in the following sentence? "After eating dinner, everyone in the room was a little bit full." More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The FluInfluenza, commonly known as “flu,” is a highly contagious viral disease that is characterized by fever, respiratory symptoms, fatigue, and muscle pain. The word influenza stems from the Latin root influentia, meaning "influence of the stars," because before people knew that organisms cause disease, they thought that the stars influenced the spread of influenza. Between 1918 and 1919, how many people were killed in a worldwide lethal flu pandemic? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak (1965)During the Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak of 1965, as many as 78 tornados—47 of which were confirmed—hit the midwestern US over the course of 11 hours. Affecting Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa, the outbreak resulted in 271 deaths, thousands of injuries, and widespread damage. In Indiana alone, it killed 137 people and injured more than 1,200, becoming the deadliest tornado outbreak in the state's history. This outbreak led to the clarification of what terms used in weather forecasts? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Septimius Severus (145 CE)Severus became emperor of Rome in 193 CE, also known as the "Year of the Five Emperors." In the months before he ascended the throne, two emperors were assassinated and a third—Didius Julianus—earned the position by buying it from the Praetorian Guard. With the empire in disarray, Severus marched on Rome, ousted Julianus, and was proclaimed emperor. He then built himself a strong army that would protect both him and his empire. It is said that he gave what advice to his sons before his death? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 When we quarrel, how we wish we had been blameless.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in the view of (someone)— In someone's or some group's opinion. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Galveston Island FeatherFest (2024)Begun in 2002, the Galveston Island FeatherFest is intended to celebrate the "birds and natural heritage of the Upper Texas Coastal area." Some 300 species of birds are found on Galveston Island in the springtime as they stop off during their migration north. The FeatherFest allows bird enthusiasts the chance to go on field trips to photograph and watch the birds. Prominent environmental writers, naturalists, and artists are the leaders of these field trips. Seminars, workshops, and lectures on the wildlife in the community are also available, and a FeatherFest Photo Contest is held. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: squeezeanguish, anxious, anxiety - Anguish, anxious, and anxiety come from Latin angere, "to choke, squeeze, strangle." More... kvetch - To complain chronically or habitually, from Yiddish kvetshn, "pinch, squeeze; complain." More... squash - As a verb, it is an alteration of quash, and means, generally, to "crush, squeeze, or suppress." More... tapioca - Comes from Tupi-Guarani tipi, "residue," and ok/og, "squeeze out." More... | |