Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, November 24, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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onerous
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subordinating Conjunctions Used to Convey a ReasonWe use the subordinating conjunctions "in order that," "so that," and "so" to give a reason for an action. They are interchangeable in meaning, but differ in formality. Which one is the most formal? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Yongle EncyclopediaIn 1403, Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle commissioned a massive encyclopedia project in an attempt to preserve Chinese culture and literature. About 8,000 texts were incorporated into the compendium, which covers an array of subjects including history, philosophy, art, science, and religion. Two thousand scholars worked to compile the encyclopedia, and the finished product contained nearly 23,000 manuscript rolls, or chapters, divided into more than 11,000 volumes. How many volumes survive today? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Mysterious Hijacker Parachutes from Plane with $200,000 Ransom (1971)To this day, the true identity of the well-dressed man calling himself Dan Cooper—reported in the press as D. B. Cooper—who hijacked a passenger jet and then parachuted from the airborne Boeing 727 with a $200,000 ransom, remains a mystery. Despite numerous leads and a great deal of media attention, the mystery man's true identity and whereabouts continue to elude investigators, and the bulk of the money has never been recovered. What are some theories about who he was and what became of him? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Grace Horsley Darling (1815)On September 7, 1938, Darling spotted the wrecked SS Forfarshire from a window in the lighthouse that her father kept on the Farne Islands. The ship had foundered on rocks during a storm and broken in half. The weather was too rough for a lifeboat, so Darling and her father rescued survivors in a rowboat. Darling was celebrated as a national hero and became the subject of legends and even a poem by William Wordsworth. How many people were on the Forfarshire when it went down? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The worst slave-owners were those who were kind to their slaves, and so prevented the horror of the system being realized by those who suffered from it, and understood by those who contemplated it.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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take a fit— To become very or unreasonably angry or upset; to have an outburst of rage, frustration, or ill temper. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Chitlin' Strut (2018)The Chitlin' Strut is a feast of chitlins, or chitterlings (hog intestines), held in the small town of Salley, South Carolina. The affair features a "hawg-calling" contest, country music, arts and crafts, a parade, lots of chitlins (about 8,000 pounds are devoured each year), and chicken for those not enamored of chitlins. Chitlins are prepared by cleaning them well, boiling them until they are tender, and then, after coating them in egg and crumbs, frying them in deep fat until they're crackling crisp. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: organismcultivar - An organism resulting from cultivation, from the combination of "cultivated variety." More... scientific name - The recognized Latin name given to an organism, consisting of a genus and species, according to a taxonomy; also called the binomial name. More... soma - The body of an organism. More... macronutrient - One required in relatively large amounts by organisms, e.g. carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Some cancer patients have PTSD years after diagnosis, study findsA fifth of cancer patients experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a Malaysian study has found. About one-third of these still had consistent or worsening PTSD four years after diagnosis. The researchers said PTSD needed to be identified ... More... | |