Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, September 16, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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deportment
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adjectives of AgeAdjectives of age can describe how old a person, place, or thing is. Why do we have to be careful with adjectives of age? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Bear-BaitingPopular in England until the 19th century, bear-baiting is a blood sport in which trained dogs are set upon a chained bear. Bear gardens, arenas where bears were exhibited and bear-baiting events were held, consisted of a circular, high walled area—called the "pit"—and raised seating for spectators. Said to have been favored by monarchs like Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the sport was eventually outlawed due to its cruelty. In what other places has bear baiting been popular? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Grito de Dolores: Battle Cry of Mexican War of Independence (1810)The revolutionary movements in the US and France did not go unnoticed in Mexico, which had been subjugated by Spain centuries earlier. When Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808, many Mexicans saw an opportunity to claim their own freedom. In 1810, revolutionary priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla launched the Mexican War of Independence with his Grito de Dolores—"Cry of Dolores"—a call to freedom that roused the peasants to action and became their battle cry. How is the event commemorated today? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Louise Arner Boyd (1887)Boyd was an American explorer of Greenland and the Arctic and the first woman to fly over the North Pole. After the deaths of her parents and brothers, she inherited the family fortune and chartered the ship of famed explorer Roald Amundsen for a trip to the Arctic. She gained notoriety for hunting polar bears and was called "The Girl Who Tamed the Arctic." She later canceled another expedition, stating, "How could I go on a pleasure trip when those 22 lives were at stake?" What had happened? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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rags-to-riches— adjective (used before a noun) Characterized by a rise from poverty to great or exceptional wealth. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Clearwater County Fair and Lumberjack Days (2018)This international lumberjack event attracts loggers from throughout the world to little Orofino, Idaho. Lumbering is a major part of Orofino's economy; Lumberjack Days began in the early 1940s as a local contest and kept growing. The events begin on Thursday, a children's parade is held on Friday, and the lumberjack events come on the weekend. The logging competitions include log birling, ax throwing, chopping, chain-saw events, a speed pole climb, jack-and-jill sawing, and a skidding, or weight-pulling, contest. The cash prizes total more than $30,000 and attendance is about 6,000. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: smokingstogie, stogy - A stogie (or stogy) is named for the Conestoga wagon—as drivers of the wagons rolled tobacco into thin ropes for smoking on long trips; stogies are now long, thin cigars. More... cigar - Comes from Spanish cigarro, from the Mayan verb sik'ar, "to smoke" or "smoking." More... dottle - Any tobacco left in a pipe after smoking. More... pipe dream - Originated with opium smoking. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Kidney stones form like any rock, may hold day-by-day history of your body's healthKidney stones are actual stones, in the geologic sense of the word, new research reveals. The combined efforts of an interdisciplinary team — which included a geologist, a microscopist, and a medical doctor — revealed a surprising trait of kidney ... More... | |