Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 29, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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tumulus
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Slash vs. BackslashThe slash must not be confused with a backslash ( \ ), which is used in computer programming but not in written English. When a distinction between the two needs to be made, what is the slash sometimes called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Exit PollingInstead of asking who voters plan to support in a future election, as is done in opinion polling, pollsters involved in exit polling ask people who they actually voted for as they leave polling stations. Exit polls are usually conducted by firms providing media outlets with an early indication of an election's outcome, though they have also been used to deter election fraud. Critics, however, maintain that the results of these surveys can be distorted. How might exit polls influence an election? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 WWII: Germans Firebomb the City of London (1940)By the end of the Blitz—Germany's eight-month nighttime bombing campaign in Britain—tens of thousands of people were dead and millions of homes lay in ruins. For about a two-month period, the country faced nightly attacks. One of the worst raids occurred on December 29, when much of London—including such historic landmarks as St. Paul's Cathedral and the Guildhall—was destroyed or damaged by bombs and the fires they started. How many children were evacuated to the countryside during the Blitz? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Carmen Sylva (1843)In 1869, Elisabeth of Wied, the daughter of a German prince, married the future king of Romania, Carol I. An artistic and imaginative queen consort, she wrote prolifically—in four languages—under the pseudonym Carmen Sylva. She composed poetry, plays, novels, and essays, at times collaborating with her lady-in-waiting. Her 1882 collection of witty aphorisms won a French literary award. Despite knowing it was illegal, she is said to have encouraged her nephew—the heir to the throne—to do what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The nations of the earth are mostly swayed by fear—fear of the sort that a little cheap oratory turns easily to rage, hate, and violence.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be (someone's) call— To be ultimately left up to someone to decide. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Dattatreya Jayanti (2020)Dattatreya's birthday is celebrated all over India. Hindus rise early and bathe in sacred streams, fast, and spend the day in worship and prayer. They also meditate on sacred works that include the Avadhuta Gita and Jivanmukta Gita. Recently, Dattatreya is identified with the triad of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, for it is believed that portions of these deities were incarnated in him. He is usually depicted with three heads and six hands. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: mineraldiamond - Developed from adamant—the name of the hardest stone or mineral of ancient times—from Latin adamans, from Greek adamas, "invincible" (a-, "not," and daman, "to tame"). More... Formica - Got its name from being created as a substitute "for mica," a mineral. More... mineral - Etymologically "something obtained by mining," from Latin minera, "ore." More... snow - Technically a mineral, it is Teutonic in origin, from an Indo-European root shared by the Latin words niv-/nix and Greek nipha; the spelling snow first appeared in English around 1200. More... | |