Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, May 24, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ramose
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Adjectives of OpinionAdjectives of opinion always come first before any other factual descriptions of the noun. There are two types of opinion adjectives. What are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Zombie ComputersA zombie computer, or zombie, is a computer attached to the Internet that has been compromised by a hacker, computer virus, or trojan horse. Generally, a compromised machine is only one of many in a network of remotely controlled computers used to perform malicious tasks. Most owners of zombie computers are unaware that their systems are being used in this way, but the damage caused by such systems can be devastating. Approximately what percent of the world's spam is sent from zombie computers? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 "What Hath God Wrought" (1844)Samuel F.B. Morse was originally a painter, and a good one. His portraits still rank among the finest produced in the US. However, he is best remembered for having developed the telegraph and the code of dots and dashes that bears his name. In 1844, Morse demonstrated the practicability of his instrument to Congress by transmitting the famous message "What hath God wrought" over a wire from Washington, DC, to Baltimore. Morse was also instrumental in introducing what other innovation to the US? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Helen Brooke Taussig (1898)Now regarded as the founder of pediatric cardiology, Taussig was an American physician who, among other things, revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of "blue babies," babies whose heart malformations cause low blood oxygen content. She pioneered the use of fluoroscopy to identify defects in the heart and great vessels and devised a surgical treatment with Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas that saved thousands of infants. She also helped block the approval of what dangerous drug in the US? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence.Charles Darwin (1809-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
have (some/any) qualms about (something or someone)— To have some or certain hesitations, apprehensions, uneasiness, or pangs of conscience (about something or someone). (Also often used in the negative to mean the opposite.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Ganga Dussehra (2018)According to Hindu mythology, the Ganges River in India originally flowed only in heaven. In the form of a goddess, Ganga, the river was brought down to earth by King Bhagiratha in order to purify the ashes of his ancestors, 60,000 of whom had been burned under a curse from the great sage Kapila. On Ganga Dussehra, the 10th day of the waxing half of the month of Jyestha, Hindus able to reach the Ganges take a dip in the river to purify their sins and remedy their physical ills. Those who live far away from the Ganges immerse themselves in whatever river, pond, or sea they can get to on this day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: wind instrumentorgan - Comes from Latin organum, from Greek oganon, "implement, instrument, tool"; it was first a very general term, but was then used for "wind instrument" and "functional part of the body." More... poop - Once had the meaning "to make an abrupt sound, as from a wind instrument." More... bell - The flared open end of a wind instrument. More... tootle - To toot continuously, as notes on a wind instrument. More... | |
| In the News | |
|---|---|
When Trees Droop at Night, They Might Actually Be "Sleeping"There are trees that "weep" and trees that "quake," trees that are "bitter," "brittle," "common" and "dynamite." But trees that sleep? Maybe. In research both charming and groundbreaking (sorry for the pun), scientists from Austria, Finland and Hungary ... More... | |