Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, October 20, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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retinue
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Future Simple TenseThe simplest way we create the future simple tense is by using the modal verb "will" + the bare infinitive (without "to") of the main verb of the sentence. How else can the future simple tense be formed? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 PharmingPharming is a type of cyber attack that aims to collect confidential user information by redirecting a website's traffic to a different, bogus website that appears identical to the original site. By hacking into DNS servers—the "phone books" of the internet—and changing IP addresses, high-tech criminals can automatically redirect users to their phony sites. In recent years, pharming has become a major concern for e-commerce and online banking sites. How does pharming differ from phishing? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Saturday Night Massacre (1973)While investigating the Watergate scandal, special prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenaed audiotapes of conversations implicating US President Richard Nixon in a cover-up of a burglary of the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. Nixon refused to produce the tapes and ordered the US attorney general and his deputy to fire Cox. On the same Saturday, both men resigned in protest, and public outcry eventually forced Nixon to surrender the tapes. What happened to Cox? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Pauline Bonaparte (1780)A woman of great beauty and considerable scandal, Pauline Bonaparte was Napoleon's favorite sister. She accompanied her first husband on an expedition to subdue Haiti, but he failed and died of yellow fever. Pauline then married a Roman nobleman, but she soon tired of him and returned to Paris, where her scandalous conduct earned her a reputation. Pauline was the only one of Napoleon's siblings to come to his aid when he was exiled to Elba, despite having incurred his disfavor for what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To those who view the voyage of life from the port of departure the bark that has accomplished any considerable distance appears already in close approach to the farther shore.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a line in the sand— A figurative boundary that someone or some group refuses to cross or beyond which no further advance or compromise is accepted. (Used especially in the phrase "draw a line in the sand.") More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Texas Rose Festival (2017)This annual tribute to roses is held in Tyler, Texas, the center of the region that produces more than a third of the field-grown roses in the United States. Tyler's Municipal Rose Garden, one of the largest rose gardens in the country, covers 14 acres and has some 30,000 rose bushes. They blossom among pines, fountains, gazebos, and archways. The festival features the coronation of a Rose Queen, a rose show, a parade of floats decorated with roses, and tours of the rose gardens. There are also arts and crafts shows, a square-dance festival, and a symphony concert. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slimeasphalt - Its synonyms are mineral pitch, Jews' pitch, and slime. More... ooze - As in mud or slime, it traces back to an Old Norse word meaning "puddle, stagnant pool," and originally meant juice or sap from a plant or fruit. More... slime - Related to Latin limus, "mud, slime." More... mucous, mucus - Mucous is the adjective from Latin meaning "slimy," and mucus is the noun from Latin but cognate with Greek mussesthai, "blow the nose." More... | |
| In the News | |
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The Amazing Sweating RobotAt 5 1/2 feet tall, its face fixed between a grin and a grimace, the humanoid robot Kengoro is something of a synthetic Arnold Schwarzenegger. That is not to say the machine, created by the University of Tokyo's JSK laboratory, is a recursive time-traveling ... More... | |