Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, October 3, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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mantel
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Prepositional PhrasesA prepositional phrase is made up of at least a preposition and its object, which can be a noun, pronoun, or a noun phrase. Often times, the object will have a modifier or modifiers. Where do these appear in the prepositional phrase? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Cursus HonorumA Latin phrase meaning "course of honors," the cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. The cursus honorum forbade repeating an office, and it set a minimum age for election to each post and minimum intervals between holding successive offices. However, these rules were often ignored toward the end of the Republic. At what age could candidates be elected to their first official post? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 George Washington Creates Thanksgiving Day (1789)Though the feast held in 1621 may be better remembered, the first official national Thanksgiving in the US was declared in 1789. On that day, Washington, the president at the time, offered thanks for "the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty" following the revolution. Thanksgiving feasts were declared sporadically until 1863, when President Lincoln established it as a lasting holiday. Traditionally, the president pardons a live turkey each year. Why have recent presidents pardoned two? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alain-Fournier (1886)Henri-Alban Fournier, who published as Alain-Fournier, was a French novelist known for his single full-length work, Le Grand Meaulnes. The poetic novel about a youthful search for the ideal was published in 1913 and is now considered a classic of French literature. Set in an imaginary locale, it is a blend of the author's own childhood and his mystical ideas. Though he began work on a second novel in 1914, he was killed in action in WWI that year. When was his body finally identified? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Patriotism is like charity—it begins at home.Henry James (1843-1916) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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let (the) perfect be the enemy of (the) good— To allow the demand, desire, or insistence for perfection decrease the chances of obtaining a good or favorable result in the end. (Usually used in the negative as an imperative.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Korea National Foundation Day (2017)This national holiday in the Republic of Korea (South Korea), also known as Gaecheon-jeol, commemorates the legendary founding of the Korean nation in 2333 BCE by Tangun. Prince Hwan-ung left heaven to rule earth from Mt. T'aebaek and bore a son called Tangun Wanggom, meaning Sandalwood King. When he grew up, he built his own city and called his new kingdom Choson. The myth is important in that it links the Korean people with a heavenly origin. The holiday is celebrated with ceremonies at the ancient rock altar of Tangun, on the summit of Mt. Mani on Kanghwa Island, about 25 miles west of Seoul. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: songsepisode - First a Greek dialogue between two songs, it is from eis, "into," and hodos, "way." More... lyric poetry - Characterized by an expression of the poet's personal feelings—and originally descriptive of songs accompanied by the lyre (examples are John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley). More... melodrama - Meaning "song play," it has a Greek origin—from melos, "music, song"—and it started out as a sensational play interspersed with songs. More... vaudeville - Comes from a French composer calling his songs "chanson du Vau de vire"—"song of the valley of Vire (in Normandy)"—later shortened to "vau de ville." More... | |
| In the News | |
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Ancient Fossils Reveal the First Humans Emerged 170000 Years Earlier than We ThoughtThe first modern humans may have emerged up to 350,000 years ago—170,000 years earlier than previously thought. Analysis of ancient DNA has allowed scientists to trace back the ancestry of people from South Africa to determine when our ancestors split ... More... | |