Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, February 13, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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nightstick
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adverbs of MannerAdverbs of manner are used to tell us how something happens or is done. They can modify verbs, adjectives, or clauses of a sentence. Adverbs of manner are very often formed from adjectives by simply adding what suffix? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Hand CannonThe hand cannon, which dates back to the late 13th century, was the first handheld portable firearm. The origin of the weapon is widely disputed, and a number of groups, including the Arabs, Chinese, Mongols, and Europeans, claim credit for its invention. Though the hand cannon lacked accuracy and was fairly unwieldy, its armor-penetrating capabilities eventually brought the simple weapon to the forefront of European warfare. How were hand cannons fired? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Thomas Edison Observes the Edison Effect (1880)Known as "the Edison Effect," thermionic emission is the emission of electrons or ions by substances that are highly heated. The charged particles that are emitted are called thermions, and their number rapidly increases with the temperature of the substance. If the heated substance that emits thermions carries a charge, the thermions will carry the same charge. The effect was observed by Edison in 1883 when he was working on what invention? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir Joseph Banks (1743)Banks was a British naturalist, botanist, and patron of the sciences. After inheriting a large fortune in his early 20s, he began traveling extensively, collecting plant and natural history specimens. He outfitted and accompanied James Cook's voyage around the world, during which time he collected many biological specimens that had never before been classified. His herbarium, one of the most important in existence, and library are now at the British Museum. What plant genus was named after him? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A good face they say, is a letter of recommendation. O Nature, Nature, why art thou so dishonest, as ever to send men with these false recommendations into the World!Henry Fielding (1707-1754) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the honest truth— The sincere, unadulterated truth. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Parentalia (2024)This was an ancient Roman festival held in honor of the manes, or souls of the dead—in particular, deceased relatives. It began a season for remembering the dead, which ended with the Feralia on February 21. This week was a quiet, serious occasion, without the rowdiness that characterized other Roman festivals. Everything, including the temples, closed down, and people decorated graves with flowers and left food—sometimes elaborate banquets—in the cemeteries in the belief that it would be eaten by the spirits of the deceased. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: securityhostage - First referred to the state of someone handed over as a pledge or security (for the fulfillment of an undertaking). More... policy - Meaning "insurance document," it is from a French word meaning "certificate, contract," from an earlier Latin word meaning "a receipt or security for money paid." More... impignorate, pignorate - To impignorate or pignorate means to put up as security or to pawn. More... wage, wager - Wage once meant "pledge, security" and wager was defined as "solemn pledge" or "undertaking," from French wagier, "to pledge." More... | |