Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, November 13, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Modal Auxiliary Verbs - MayThe modal verb "may" is used to ask, grant, or describe permission, and to politely offer to do something for someone, among other things. Why is "can't" more commonly used in questions than "may not"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Greek Terracotta FigurinesTerracotta figurines were a common form of artistic and religious expression in Ancient Greece. Today, they offer invaluable insight into the everyday life of the Ancient Greeks. First used as religious offerings, the figurines could often be purchased at sanctuary entrances and represented important life events, such as giving birth. Only around the 4th century BCE did the statuettes acquire a decorative function, becoming distorted, deformed caricatures known as what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Holland Tunnel Opens to Traffic (1927)The Holland Tunnel, which connects Manhattan to Jersey City, was designed specifically for automobile traffic and included ventilator systems to reduce carbon monoxide exposure. One of first examples of ventilated design, the tunnel was an engineering marvel of the time. Construction required workers to spend large amounts of time under high pressure. Upon exiting the tunnel, they underwent a depressurization process that prevented them from developing what painful physiological condition? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Esaias Tegnér (1782)Tegnér was the most popular of the Swedish romantic poets. An optimistic nationalist in his youth, he wrote the militant anti-Russian Svea and Axel, followed by Frithjof's Saga, which is based on collections of Scandinavian sagas and is considered the masterpiece of the Swedish Gothic tradition. The son of a pastor and a bishop himself, his sermons and speeches are classics of the Swedish language. Subject to periods of madness, he composed what epic poem in an asylum? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 If you can get nothing better out of the world, get a good dinner out of it, at least.Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
(not) half the person/man/woman (one) used to be— Having a reduced, diminished, or weakened physique, disposition, conviction, prowess, or mental acuity, as after some action, event, or trauma. Sometimes used in the negative but to the same effect. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Feast of St. Frances Cabrini (2023)The first American citizen to be proclaimed a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, Francesca Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) was born in Italy. She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1880 and went on to establish orphanages, schools, and hospitals in many American cities, as well as in Europe and South America. She was canonized on July 7, 1946. Her feast day is commemorated in many places, but particularly at Mother Cabrini High School in New York City, in whose chapel she is buried, and at every establishment of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: thighham, hamstring - Originally, the part of the leg behind the knee was called the ham, and then the tendon near the ham was the hamstring; by extension, the ham became the thigh and buttock together. More... haunch - The buttock and thigh together. More... hockshin, gambrel - The underside of the thigh is the hockshin or gambrel. More... thigh - Etymologically, the "plump" part of the leg, from an Indo-European base meaning "swell" or "fat." More... | |