Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, November 11, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
misadventure
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Defining Modal Auxiliary VerbsA modal auxiliary verb is used to change the meaning of other verbs by expressing modality—that is, asserting (or denying) possibility, likelihood, ability, permission, obligation, or future intention. What are modal verbs unable to do? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
%2c_Algeria_04966r.jpg) TimgadTimgad was Roman city founded by Trajan in northeast Algeria in 100 CE. The city was destroyed by Berbers in the 7th century and was unknown until excavations were begun in 1881. Today, it is popularly known as "the Pompeii of North Africa" because of its extensive, well-preserved ruins, which include a triumphal arch, public baths, a theater, a library, and a forum. For thousands of years, volcanic debris protected the ruins of Pompeii; what helped preserve the ruins of Timgad? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Highwayman Joseph "Blueskin" Blake Hanged (1724)In the early 18th century, English criminal Jonathan Wild maintained a highly organized gang of thieves and long escaped punishment by posing as an instrument of justice and helping the authorities catch other criminals independent of, or rebellious to, his control. One such criminal was Blake, who was arrested after a burglary. He was tried, convicted, and hanged. What other notorious criminal—Blake's partner in crime—escaped from prison when Blake attacked a witness at his trial? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Alessandro Moreschi (1858)Moreschi was the late 19th century's most famous castrato—a male singer who undergoes castration before puberty and, as a result, retains a soprano or alto voice that becomes extraordinarily powerful as he develops the lung capacity and physical bulk of an adult. He was first soprano in the Sistine Chapel choir for 30 years and was the only castrato of the bel canto tradition to make solo sound recordings. What do modern music critics say about the singing featured in these recordings? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Character is not cut in marble—it is not something solid and unalterable. It is something living and changing, and may become diseased as our bodies do.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
a kindred spirit— A person who shares several or many fundamental beliefs, ideas, convictions, sentiments, attitudes, and/or interests with oneself. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Gansabhauet (2021)Gansabhauet is held only in the country town of Sursee, Lucerne Canton, Switzerland, on St. Martin's Day. A dead goose is hung by its neck in front of the town hall, and young men draw lots to take turns trying to knock it down with a blunt saber. (Gansabhauet means "knocking down goose.") The men—blindfolded and wearing red robes and big round masks representing the sun—get only one try at the bird. While the men whack at the goose, children's games take place: they scale a stripped tree, race in sacks, and compete to see who can make the ugliest face. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: mechanismmechanical pencil - Pushes graphite out by a mechanism such as a spring or a screw. More... pinwheel - Originally a mechanism in a clock. More... gadget - May come from French gachette, which is or has been applied to various pieces of mechanism, or from Gaget, the person who created the first so-called gadgets—miniature Statues of Liberty sold in Paris—or from a Navy term for a tool or mechanical device for which one could not recall the name. More... rack, pinion - Rack is the linear gear and pinion is the circular gear in a mechanism. More... | |