Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, August 23, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Future TenseGrammatically speaking, there are no future tenses in the English language; verbs do not inflect (conjugate) a certain way to reflect future actions. For that reason, we use different sentence constructions to achieve a future point of view. How is this is most often accomplished? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 SurvivalismIn the 1970s, widespread fear of imminent natural and artificial disasters and societal collapse led to the development of survivalism, a subculture based on the anticipation of catastrophic events and the preparations involved in surviving disaster. The movement is still popular today. Survivalists stockpile food and water, build shelters, and learn skills that they believe will help them live through apocalyptic chaos. In survivalist terminology, what is a "BOB"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Freckleton Air Disaster (1944)On the morning of August 23, 1944, an American B-24 bomber aircraft crashed into the village of Freckleton in Lancashire, England, during a fierce storm. The plane hit the Holy Trinity School, three houses, and a snack bar for American servicemen. Fuel from the plane's ruptured fuel tank created an inferno. Of the 61 people killed in the crash and fire, 38 were children. What reportedly widespread belief among the American airmen about British weather may have contributed to the disaster? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ernst Krenek (1900)Krenek was an Austrian-American composer born in Vienna to Czech parents. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and began composing in the 1920s. His 1926 jazz opera, Johnny Strikes Up, was extremely successful and has been translated into many languages. He explored atonal and 12-tone compositions, which lack a definable key. In 1937, Krenek moved to the US, where he became a citizen in 1945. In 1924, he began a short-lived marriage to the daughter of what famous composer? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To seek to extinguish anger utterly is but a bravery of the Stoics.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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labor under the illusion of/that— To live, operate, or function with the unyielding belief in something, especially that which is fanciful, unrealistic, or untrue. Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Vulcanalia (2017)Vulcan was the ancient Roman god of volcanic or destructive fire. The Vulcanalia, or festival in honor of Vulcan, was held on August 23, right at the time of year when forest fires might be expected and when the stored grain was in danger of burning. For this reason Vulcan's cult was very prominent at Ostia, where Rome's grain was stored. At the Vulcanalia, which was observed in Egypt, in Athens, and in Rome, the priest or flamen Volcanis performed a sacrifice, and the heads of families burned small fish they had caught in the Tiber River. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: markingpastry wheel, pastry jagger - A pastry wheel or pastry jagger is a handled tool with a thin sharp wheel, used for marking and cutting rolled-out dough. More... stocking - A white marking on the lower part of a horse's leg. More... on the dot - Probably a reference to the minute hand of the clock being exactly over the dot marking the given minute on the dial. More... hilum - The scar on a seed marking the point where it was attached to its seed vessel. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Surprising Find at the Smithsonian: An Ancient Dolphin SkullSometimes, the most fascinating scientific discoveries happen not out in the field, but in dusty archives and museum boxes. Smithsonian paleontologists have identified a cetacean skull, which had been left to the museum more than half a century ago, as ... More... | |