Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 25, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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antitrust
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subjunctive Mood - Expressing WishesOne of the most straightforward ways of using the subjunctive mood is when we want to describe a wish for something to be different than it is or was. How do we generally construct these sentences? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The History of SurgeryThough administering anesthesia to surgical patients only became common practice in the mid-19th century, operations have been performed since prehistoric times, when sharpened flints served as surgical instruments and trepanation—the oldest operation for which evidence exists and one involving drilling a hole in the skull—was used to treat a host of maladies. Early civilizations also developed amputation, cauterization, and suturing techniques. When did the practice of cosmetic surgery develop? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Calaveras Skull Hoax Begins (1866)What began as a practical joke became a famous, decades-long scientific hoax when a prominent geologist not only fell for it, but vigorously defended it as real. After miners in Calaveras County, California, claimed to have found a human skull deep within a mine, Harvard University Professor Josiah Whitney—then the State Geologist of California—announced that it was the earliest evidence of humans on the continent. Where might the miners who planted the skull have obtained it in the first place? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ida Noddack (1896)One of the first prominent female chemists in Germany, Noddack was nominated several times for a Nobel Prize but never won. Still, she made a number of remarkable contributions to science, co-discovering the element rhenium with her future husband and proposing for the first time the idea of nuclear fission. She also participated in the discovery of another element, which her team named masurium, but they could not prove its existence. It was finally isolated by others in 1937 and named what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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late model— Especially regarding an automobile, of a relatively recent design or model. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Fiesta sa EDSA (People Power Anniversary) (2021)The Fiesta sa EDSA is a commemoration of the bloodless People Power Revolution in the Philippines on February 22-25, 1986, in which the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos was toppled. Two key government officers rebelled in protest of Marcos's oppression and demanded his resignation. Pro-Marcos forces threatened to annihilate them, but two million unarmed people, with offerings of flowers, food, and prayers, provided a human shield and overcame the military's firepower. The day is marked with ceremonies at the site of the revolution in Quezon City, a part of Manila. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: positivelitotes - From Greek litos, "simple, single," it refers to an ironical understatement (e.g. no small amount) or two negatives used to make a positive (e.g. it was not unsuccessful); it is pronounced lie-TOH-teez, LEYED-uh-teez, LID-uh-teez, or leye-TOHD-eez. More... set point - One's set point (for happiness) is a genetically determined level of happiness, to which one returns after positive or negative emotional experiences. More... Positive, comparative, superlative - Positive is the ordinary form of a word, with comparative conveying a sense of greater intensity of the adjective and superlative reflecting the greatest intensity of the adjective. More... acceptable face - The positive or reasonable side of something. More... | |