Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, January 7, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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refractory
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Good vs. WellA common stumbling block for native speakers and learners of English alike is the correct usage of "good" versus "well." In most instances, good is an attributive adjective directly describing a noun. What is "well"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Chris BurdenBurden is a performance artist who emerged as part of the American art scene in the 1970s, performing controversial, dangerous pieces in which he used his own body as the art medium. During a 1971 performance piece titled Shoot, he was shot in his left arm by an assistant standing a short distance away. He was labeled insane following the performance, but it has since become one of his most well-known pieces from the period. Why did he resign from the University of California in 2005? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Galileo Galilei Discovers Three of Jupiter's Four Largest Moons (1610)Jupiter has more than 60 moons. The four largest—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—were the first satellites of a planet other than Earth to be detected. They were discovered by Galileo in 1610, shortly after he invented the telescope, and are therefore known as the Galilean satellites. On January 7, 1610, Galileo observed near Jupiter what he described at the time as "three fixed stars, totally invisible by their smallness." How long did it take Galileo to realize they were not stars? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ludwig III of Bavaria (1845)Ludwig III, the last king of Bavaria, took an unusual path to the crown. His father Luitpold had ruled Bavaria for his insane nephews Ludwig II—a brilliant eccentric who was ultimately confined to a château—and Otto I. Ludwig III succeeded Luitpold as regent and reigned as king from 1913 to 1918. Ludwig's brief rule was tumultuous, coinciding with World War I and the German Revolution. He was the first monarch to be deposed in the revolution and fled Munich in November 1918. Where did he die? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 When friends grow cold, and the converse of intimates languishes into vapid civility and commonplace, these [books] only continue the unaltered countenance of happier days, and cheer us with that true friendship which never deceived hope nor deserted sorrow.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be caught off (one's) guard— To be taken by surprise; to be caught when one is vulnerable, careless, or inattentive. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nanakusa Matsuri (2022)Nanuska Matsuri is a Japanese ceremony dating back to the 9th century. It is also called Wakana-setsu ("Festival of Young Herbs"), or Jin-jitsu ("Man Day"), because it occurs on the zodiacal day for "man." After an offering to the clan deity in the morning, participants partake of nanakusa gayu, a rice gruel seasoned with seven different herbs that is said to have been served for its medicinal value to the young prince of the Emperor Saga. The herbs are shepherd's-purse, chickweed, parsley, cottonweed, radish, as well as herbs known as hotoke-no-za and aona in Japanese. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: recentAmazonian epoch - The Amazonian epoch is the most recent of the Martian geologic epochs, from 1,800 years ago to the present. More... grey, gray - The distinction in spelling between British grey and American gray is recent, popping up in the 20th century. More... Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene, Oligocene - Epochs indicating periods in the Earth's geology; Pleistocene means "most recent," Pliocene means "more recent," Miocene means "moderately recent," and Oligocence means "but a little recent." More... neoteric - Used to describe a person, especially an author, it means one belongs to modern/recent times—but it might also refer to a person having a modern outlook or new ideas; when used of things, it indicates that they are modern, new, or recent. More... | |