Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, March 11, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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philippic
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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AppositivesAn appositive is a noun that serves to describe or rename another noun (or pronoun) that appears directly before it in a sentence. When an appositive is made up of a noun phrase, what is it called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 AutomatsAn automat is a fast food restaurant where food and drinks are served by coin- and bill-operated vending machines. Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart opened the first automat in the US in 1902 and quickly popularized the notion of take-out food with their slogan “Less work for Mother.” The original automat machines, which had little windows containing the prepared meals, were filled from behind by workers who cooked the fresh food in an unseen kitchen. What led to the decline of automat dining? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Great Blizzard of '88 Begins (1888)The Great Blizzard of '88 was one of the most severe blizzards in US history. Snowfalls of 40 to 50 in (102 to 127 cm) fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and snowdrifts exceeded 50 ft (15 m) in some places. Railroads were shut down, and people were confined to their houses for up to a week. More than 400 people died from the storm and the ensuing cold, including 200 in New York City alone. What infrastructure changes were made in the aftermath of the storm? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (1915)In the 1950s, Licklider—who had studied math and physics and had a doctorate in psychology—began studying information technology. He was appointed head of information processing at ARPA, the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency, in the early 60s. There, he laid the groundwork for computer networking and ARPANET, the precursor of the Internet. He is considered one of the most important figures in computing history and is often compared to what historical trailblazer? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To believe in a child is to believe in the future. Through their aspirations they will save the world. With their combined knowledge the turbulent seas of hate and injustice will be calmed. They will champion the causes of life's underdogs, forging a society without class discrimination. They will supply humanity with music and beauty as it has never known. They will endure.Henry James (1843-1916) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have enough on (one's) plate— To be sufficiently busy or preoccupied with work, problems, or difficulties as to be unable or unwilling to cope with anything more. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Purim (2017)Six hundred years before the Christian era, most Jews were slaves in Persia. The Persian prime minister Haman persuaded King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to let him destroy the empire's entire Jewish population. The king did not realize that his own wife, Esther, was Jewish until she pleaded with him to spare her people. The Book of Esther is read aloud in synagogues on the eve and morning of Purim, and listeners drown out every mention of Haman's name by jeering and stamping their feet. Purim is also a time for sharing food with friends and for charity to the poor. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pushingcentrifugal, centripetal - Centrifugal force pulls away or pushes outward; centripetal draws toward or pulls inward. More... cow tipping - A widely frowned-upon activity whereby one knocks over a sleeping cow (which sleeps standing up) by pushing on its side. More... exert - Can refer to a seed's pushing out or up. More... crowd - Its underlying notion is of "pushing, pressing," from Old English crudan, "press." More... | |