Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, November 9, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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smooth-tongued
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subjects and PredicatesSentences must always include both a subject and a predicate. The subject is the noun (a person, place, or thing) that performs, controls, or is responsible for the action of a verb. What is the predicate? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The GIUK GapThe GIUK gap is a naval warfare bottleneck in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland (G), Iceland (I), and the United Kingdom (UK). Such geographic "chokepoints" are of strategic importance, as they form relatively narrow passages that are more easily patrolled and secured. During the Cold War, the West kept a close eye on Soviet submarine activity through the gap, while the Soviets monitored it for any forces headed their way. What monitoring system did the US develop for this purpose? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Kristallnacht (1938)In 1938, using the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris as a pretext, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels urged violent reprisals against Jews. The resulting pogrom left 91 Jews dead and hundreds injured. Some 30,000 Jewish males were arrested and taken to concentration camps, and thousands of Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues were destroyed. The incident marked a major escalation in the Nazi program of Jewish persecution, foreshadowing the Holocaust. Why is it called Kristallnacht? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Hedy Lamarr (1913)Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress known primarily for her beauty and her successful film career—including her role as Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah. However, she also co-invented an early form of spread spectrum encoding—intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder to detect or jam—in the 1940s with her neighbor, composer George Antheil. They patented the technology in 1942, but it did not come into use until later. Who introduced Lamarr to military technology? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 When he stepped off the straight and narrow path of his peculiar honesty, it was with an inward assertion of unflinching resolve to fall back again into the monotonous but safe stride of virtue as soon as his little excursion into the wayside quagmires had produced the desired effect.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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good for nothing— Entirely without value; of no use whatsoever. (Hyphenated if used as a modifier before a noun.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cambodia Independence Day (2023)Cambodia was a French protectorate for 90 years before it gained independence on November 9, 1953. Independence Day, which marks that event, is a national holiday. The principal celebrations are held in the capital city of Phnom Penh, beginning with a morning ceremony at Independence Monument. Later in the day, there is a gala parade held in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, with colorful floats and marching bands. Shops are adorned with national flags. After dark, a large fireworks display is held near the riverbanks of the Royal Palace. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: withdrawanchorite - Its meaning of "hermit" derived from Greek ana-, "back," and chorein, "to withdraw." More... cease, cede - Cease and cede come from Latin cedere, "go away, withdraw." More... retire - From French retirer, from re-, "back" and tirer, "throw," its first sense was "withdraw to a place of safety or seclusion." More... take for the kitchen - To withdraw from a conversation or to remain silent. More... | |