Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, February 17, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
verdant
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
ParticiplesParticiples are words formed from verbs that can function as adjectives or gerunds or can be used to form the continuous tenses and the perfect tenses of verbs. There are two participle forms—what are they? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Hiroo OnodaWhen Lubang Island in the Philippines was reclaimed by the Allies at the end of World War II, Japanese army officer Hiroo Onoda hid in the dense jungle and refused to surrender. He remained there for 29 years, dismissing all attempts to convince him of the war's end as ruses. Later found by a Japanese student, Onoda refused to surrender unless given the order by his superior officer, who was then flown to Lubang by the Japanese government to do so. What happened then? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 H. L. Hunley Becomes First Submarine to Sink an Enemy Warship (1864)The US Civil War-era submarine Hunley required an eight-man crew—seven to power the propeller with a hand-crank and one to steer. Within months of its launch, the Confederate sub had sunk and been salvaged twice, taking the lives of five crewmen the first time and the entire crew the second. Manned with a new crew, Hunley became the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, yet the achievement was marred when the sub itself sank, killing all aboard yet again. When was it recovered? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Isabelle Eberhardt (1877)As a Swiss explorer traveling in North Africa, Eberhardt often dressed as a man to move more freely through Arab society. Intensely independent, she took the side of Algerians fighting against colonial French rule. She converted to Islam, was initiated into a Sufi brotherhood, and married an Algerian soldier. She wrote about her travels in books and newspapers. She survived a murder attempt—in which her arm was badly injured by a saber—only to die at the age of 27 in what unlikely fashion? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Nowadays we are all of us so hard up, that the only pleasant things to pay are compliments. They're the only things we can pay.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
last chance (for/at/to do something)— The last or final opportunity to get, have, do, or achieve something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Quirinalia (2021)Quirinus was an ancient Roman deity who closely resembled Mars, the god of war. His name is associated with that of the Quirinal, one of the seven hills on which Rome was built. Eventually, Quirinus was identified with Romulus, one of the legendary founders of Rome, and his festival on February 17 coincided with the date on which Romulus was believed to have been deified. This festival was also associated with the advent of spring warfare, when the shields and weapons of the army, which had been purified and retired for the winter, were brought out. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: sendinggranulated sugar - So called because the last step in processing white table sugar is sending it through a granulator, where it is dried and formed into tiny grains. More... mission - First denoted sending the Holy Spirit into the world, from Latin mittere, "send." More... perennial - First meant "remaining leafy throughout the year"; plants living three or more years—dying aboveground and sending up fresh growth every year—are perennials. More... radio - An abbreviation of radiotelegraphy, the sending of messages by electromagnetic rays. More... | |