Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, September 13, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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arboreal
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Conjunctive Adverbs and PunctuationWhen we join two independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb, they are traditionally separated with a semicolon. It is also acceptable to use a period and keep them as two discrete sentences. Either way, the conjunctive adverb typically begins the second clause and is followed by what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Mail ArtSome claim that mail art, an art form that uses the postal system as a medium, began when Cleopatra had herself delivered to Julius Caesar in a rolled-up carpet, but the thousands-strong, international network of mail artists as it exists today is a more recent development, evolving between the 1950s and 90s. Mail artists typically exchange ephemera in the form of decorated envelopes, illustrated letters, artist trading cards, and many other items. Who is deemed the pioneer of modern mail art? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Oslo Accords Officially Signed (1993)The Oslo Accords, providing for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank and Gaza and for limited Palestinian self-government, resulted from the first direct negotiation between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Though talks were conducted in secret in Oslo, Norway, the agreement was signed publicly in Washington, DC. It was signed in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat, yet neither signed it. Who did? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Walter Reed (1851)Reed was an American army doctor, pathologist, and bacteriologist. He began studying the transmission of yellow fever in 1897. Three years later, he was sent to Havana, Cuba, as head of an army commission to investigate an outbreak of the disease among American soldiers. He proved that yellow fever was spread by infected mosquitoes, and, in 1901, efforts to combat an outbreak in Havana succeeded within 90 days. Walter Reed Army Hospital is named in his honor. What medical malady killed Reed? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Mark his perfect self-contentment, and hence learn this lesson, that to be self-contented is to be vile and ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy.Edwin Abbott (1838-1926) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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laze about— To relax or spend time idly; to do nothing or very little. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Eastern States Exposition (2017)Also known as The Big E, the Eastern States Exposition is an agricultural and industrial fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts, sponsored by all six New England states. The exposition is known for its Avenue of the States, where each New England state has erected a permanent replica of its original State House. The livestock show is the largest in the East, and the Eastern States Horse Show is one of the oldest and most prestigious equestrian events in the country. The exposition also features a parade, a circus, and international exhibits. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: roomspied-a-terre - A small town house or rooms used for short residences (1829), from French "foot on the ground." More... party wall - A wall common to two adjoining buildings or rooms. More... lobby - One of its early meanings was "monastic cloister," from Latin lobia, "covered way," before it came to mean the passage or waiting area between rooms in a building. More... enfilade - A suite of rooms with doorways in line with each other—or a vista between rows of trees. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Giraffes Aren't Just Giraffes. Turns Out There Are Four SpeciesA new genetic analysis of giraffes, an animal once thought to represent a single species called Giraffa camelopardalis, has revealed that the genus Giraffa actually contains at least four distinct species. The findings, published Thursday in Current ... More... | |