Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, February 26, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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gleeful
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Secondary InterjectionsSecondary interjections are interjections derived from words that belong to other word classes—they may be adjectives, nouns, or entire clauses. They have nothing to do with the grammar of the sentences that come before or after them. What are some common secondary interjections? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Molotov CocktailA Molotov cocktail is a makeshift bomb made of a breakable container, often a glass bottle, that is filled with flammable liquid and given a simple fuse, which is lit just before it is hurled at a target. It was named for Vyacheslav Molotov, a Soviet statesman who negotiated the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany. A communist from 1906, he changed his name from Skriabin to Molotov—which means "hammer"—to escape imperial police. Why was the weapon named for him? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Buffalo Creek Flood (1972)More than 100 people were killed and thousands more left injured or homeless when a dam in West Virginia's rural Buffalo Creek Valley gave way. It had been built out of sediment left over from coal mining and collapsed after a heavy rainfall, sweeping away two more dams in its path. The collapse unleashed approximately 130 million gallons of black waste water onto the residents of the valley below. A study done 17 years later found that residents still suffered what lasting psychological effect? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Harvey Kellogg (1852)Remembered today as the co-creator of corn flakes, Kellogg was a physician and food reformer. He founded a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, based on the principles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in conjunction with his own eccentric ideas about health. He and his brother invented a flaked breakfast cereal for patients, but a feud developed between the two over flake recipes and business rights. At the end of his life, he sent his brother an apology, but it was not received in time—why? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It was such a lovely day I thought it a pity to get up.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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laugh in (one's) sleeve— To rejoice or be amused secretly and/or contemptuously, as at another's mistakes or misfortunes. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ayyam-i-Ha (2021)Also known as Days of Ha, the Ayyam-i-Ha are intercalary days (extra days inserted in a calendar) in the Baha'i calendar. The calendar is made up of 19 months of 19 days, plus the period of four days added between the 18th and 19th months, which allows for the year to be adjusted to the solar cycle. The days are set aside for rejoicing, hospitality, gift-giving, special acts of charity, and spiritually preparing for the Baha'i fast from March 2–20. The new calendar was inaugurated by Mirza Ali Mohammad, known as the Bab, founder of the Babi religion from which the Baha'i faith emerged. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: highesttop note - The highest in a piece of music or in a singer's vocal range. More... paramount, tantamount - Paramount means "primary, top," and tantamount means "equivalent to, same as"; paramount first meant "highest in jurisdiction." More... prime - Unusual since it can have virtually opposite meanings: "preliminary, basic" or "lowest"—as well as "finest" and "highest." More... supreme - Ultimately from Latin supra, "above," which begat supremus, "highest." More... | |