Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, August 26, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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decrepitude
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Indefinite Pronouns: People vs. ThingsBoth people and things can be identified in a sentence by an indefinite pronoun. Indefinite pronouns like "anyone," "everybody," "no one," and "someone" are only used to refer to people. What are some indefinite pronouns that are only used to refer to things? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Ibn al-HaythamAlso known as Alhazen, Ibn al-Haytham was an Arab mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. Optics, perhaps his most significant work, introduced the idea that light rays emanate in straight lines in all directions from every point on a luminous surface. Latin translations of this work influenced both Kepler and Descartes. Alhazen is considered the “father of optics” for his experiments with lenses, mirrors, refraction, and reflection. What lunar phenomenon was named in his honor? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Bomb Delivered to Harvey's Resort Hotel (1980)After losing a substantial amount of money gambling at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, John Birges devised a plan to recoup his losses. On August 26, 1980, he planted a bomb containing nearly 1,000 pounds (453 kg) of dynamite at the casino. His attempt to extort millions of dollars failed, but so did efforts to disarm his sophisticated, tamper-proof bomb. The resulting explosion destroyed much of the casino on August 27. No one was injured. How did experts try to disarm the bomb? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, AKA Mother Teresa (1910)In 1927, 17-year-old Agnes Bojaxhiu left her native Macedonia and became a Catholic nun in India, changing her name to Teresa. She never saw her family again. Her decades of devoted charity to the poor earned her global recognition and a 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. Though she was a prominent religious figure, she suffered from a crisis of faith that lasted decades. Since her death in 1997, she has rapidly progressed toward being declared a saint. Why was an exorcism once performed on Mother Teresa? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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land-poor— Owning a large amount of land that is unprofitable and being without the means to maintain it or capitalize on its fertility. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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_celebrations%2c_New_York_City_Jain_temple_2.JPG) Paryushana (Paryushan Parva) (2017)Like most other Jaina festivals, the Paryushana festival is observed by focusing on the 10 cardinal virtues: forgiveness, charity, simplicity, contentment, truthfulness, self-restraint, fasting, detachment, humility, and continence. Believers ask those whom they may have offended to forgive them, and friendships that have lapsed during the year are restored. The Paryushana festival is observed all over India in the month of Bhadrapada (August-September). More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: impliedsubaudition - The act of understanding something that is implied but not overtly expressed; the act of reading between the lines or otherwise understanding a message that is implicit. More... tacenda, tacit - Tacenda are things not to be mentioned or made public—things better left unsaid; tacit means "unspoken, silent" or "implied, inferred." More... | |
| In the News | |
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Japan Delivers Whiskey to Space Station for ScienceSpirits arrived at the International Space Station on Monday. Not the ghostly ones, but the kind you drink -- distilled spirits. A Japanese company known for its whiskey and other alcoholic beverages included five types of distilled spirits in the ... More... | |