Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, January 21, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Auxiliary Verbs - WillAs a modal auxiliary verb, "will" is particularly versatile, having several different meanings and functions, including to form future tenses. It is also used to express an expected hypothetical outcome in what type of sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Bouncing BettyThe German S-mine, nicknamed the "bouncing betty" by US troops during World War II, is the best-known example of a bounding mine. These land mines are designed to attack unshielded infantry by launching into the air, exploding at waist-height, and propelling shrapnel outward at lethal speeds. One of the definitive weapons of the war, the S-mine often maimed rather than killed its victims and was one of the most feared devices encountered by Allied troops. What did French soldiers dub the S-mine? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Kiwanis Club Is Chartered (1915)In 1914, Allen S. Browne and Joseph G. Prance created the Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order Brothers, a networking group for businessmen. Their club was officially chartered one year later with its now famous name "Kiwanis." The club's purpose has changed since then, but its popularity has only grown. Kiwanis Clubs today have both male and female members—roughly 600,000 of them—and focus on community service, sponsoring about 150,000 service projects each year. What does "Kiwanis" mean? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Karl Wallenda (1905)Wallenda was a German-born US circus acrobat and founder and leader of the acrobatic troupe that came to be known as the Flying Wallendas. The group gained notoriety in Europe for its high-wire acts without a safety net before developing its most famous act—the seven-person pyramid, topped by Wallenda's wife, Helen. The troupe traveled with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and later performed as freelancers. Wallenda continued performing until age 73. How did he die? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One of our first amusements as children (if we have any imagination at all) is to get out of our own characters, and to try the characters of other personages as a change—to be fairies, to be queens, to be anything, in short, but what we really are.Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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all the difference in the world— The greatest degree of difference that is possible or conceivable. Without the verbs "mean" or "make," it is used to compare two disparate things. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of Our Lady of Altagracia (2024)A cloth painting of the Virgin Mary is the focus of a yearly celebration in the Dominican Republic. It was painted by a Spanish artist and brought to the Dominican Republic in the early 1500s. The portrait, which was crowned by a gold and silver tiara by Pope John Paul II in 1978, is located in a basilica in the city of Higuey, in the province of Altagracia. Every year on January 21, thousands of pilgrims visit the Higuey cathedral to worship. The feast day is a national holiday and is marked by all-night church services, singing, dancing, and festivals. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sailscrab-skuit - A small, open fishing boat with sails. More... haul - Originally had the nautical meaning of "to trim the sails to sail closer to the wind." More... sail - Once meant specifically "to travel on a ship with sails," and, later, "to travel on any ship"; figuratively, it means "to go through effortlessly," as in, "to sail through the exam." More... three sheets to the wind - Pertains to chains that regulate the angle of sails; if the sheets were loose, the boat would become unstable and tipsy. More... | |