Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, July 5, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
paronomasia
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Order of AdjectivesIn English, the order of adjectives can sometimes be flexible, but most of the time we use a very specific order. To avoid unnatural-sounding sentences, what types of adjectives are used first? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 MedusaIn Greek mythology, Medusa was the most famous of the three monstrous Gorgon sisters. She was once a beautiful woman, but she offended Athena, who changed her hair into snakes and made her face so hideous that all who looked at her were turned to stone. When Medusa was with child by Poseidon, Perseus beheaded her. What creatures sprang from her blood? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Dolly, the First Cloned Sheep, Is Born (1996)Perhaps the most famous sheep in history, Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell through the somatic cell nuclear transfer technique, in which the nucleus of an egg cell is replaced by the nucleus of a cell from the organism to be cloned. In successful cases, the egg cell develops into a healthy fetus, but the success rate of cloning has been low. Of 277 eggs, only 29 created viable embryos, and Dolly was the only one to survive to adulthood. How did she get her name? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (1911)Pompidou was premier of France from 1962 to 1968 and president from 1969 to 1974. As Charles de Gaulle's chief aide from 1958 to 1959, he helped draft the constitution of the Fifth Republic. He secretly negotiated a cease-fire in the Algerian War in 1961 and was appointed premier the following year. In 1968, he skillfully negotiated an end to the French student-worker strikes. Elected president in 1969, he continued de Gaulle's policies. What job did Pompidou hold before he entered politics? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Objectivity and justice have nothing to do with one another.Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
flap (one's) gums— To chatter or blather. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Tynwald Ceremony (2018)The Isle of Man, located off the coast of England in the Irish Sea, was once the property of the Vikings. It was here that they established their custom of holding an open-air court for the settling of disputes and the passing of laws. Today, the Tynwald Ceremony—whose name comes from the Norse Thing vollr, meaning a fenced open parliament—is held at St. John's on Tynwald Hill on July 5, when the Lieutenant-Governor reads a brief summary of every bill that has been passed during the year—first in English, and then in Manx, the old language of the island. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: locationCook's tour - A very fast tour of a location, from Thomas Cook, the famous travel agent. More... stamping ground, stomping ground - Stamping ground or stomping ground originally referred to a location frequented by animals. More... map reference - The numbers and letters you use to find a location on a map. More... urheimat - The location where a people or language originated. More... | |