Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, January 24, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
commutation
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Causative VerbsCausative verbs indicate that a person, place, or thing is causing an action or an event to happen. What are some examples of causative verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Star FruitStar fruit, so named because it has five prominent ridges that make it star-shaped on cross section, is the yellow- or green-skinned fruit of the carambola tree. Because it contains high levels of oxalic acid, it is typically sour and its juice can be used to remove stains from clothing. Like grapefruit, star fruit possesses compounds that make it dangerous to consume when taking certain medications, including those used to treat what kind of conditions? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 California Gold Rush Begins (1848)In 1848, the same year California became a part of the US, another major event in the state's history occurred. While establishing a sawmill for John Sutter, James W. Marshall discovered gold and touched off the California gold rush. The gold-rush miners, known as forty-niners, came in droves, spurred by the promise of fabulous riches from the so-called Mother Lode, and San Francisco became a boom town. Why was Sutter disappointed when he discovered that gold had been found on his property? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 John Belushi (1949)Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician. He started out with the Second City comedy troop in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, in 1971, achieved national recognition in National Lampoon's Lemmings in 1973, and joined Saturday Night Live as an original cast member in 1975. He also starred in several films, including Animal House and The Blues Brothers, before dying of a drug overdose in 1982. Who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for his death? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The skeleton of the whale furnishes but little clue to the shape of his fully invested body.Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
hard done-by— Mistreated or abused; cheated; dejected. Often preceded by "feel." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Alasitas Fair (2018)Each year on this day, a large marketplace in La Paz, Bolivia, is full of merchants who traditionally call out "Alasitas," an Aymara word meaning "buy from me," to potential buyers of their miniature wares. Shoppers can find tiny replicas of just about every kind of object—cars, houses, foods, furniture, clothes, tools, household goods, and, especially, money—and seek those which represent items they would like to have in the coming year. Presiding over all this downsized commerce is Ekeko, an Aymara god of material wealth, fertility, and good luck. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: teacherfescue - A pointer, such as that used by a teacher, having originally meant "a straw or twig." More... docent, docible, docile - Docent comes from Latin docere, "to teach"; docible is "capable of learning" and docile first meant "teachable." More... Socratic method - A teaching technique in which a teacher does not give information directly but instead asks a series of questions, with the result that the student comes either to the desired knowledge by answering the questions or to a deeper awareness of the limits of knowledge. More... tuition - First meant taking care of something, then teaching or instruction, especially for a fee. More... | |