Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 13, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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conversant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using En Dashes to Indicate a Range of ValuesThe most common use of the en dash is to connect two numbers, dates, or times to indicate a range that spans these figures. When it is used in this way, we can think of the en dash as representing what words? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Gaston PlantéIn 1859, French physicist Gaston Planté invented the lead acid battery, the world's first rechargeable electric battery and the forerunner of the modern automobile battery. His early model consisted of two sheets of coiled lead soaked in sulfuric acid, but he soon revised this design, and just a year later, he presented a nine-cell version to the Academy of Sciences. What mechanical device did Planté invent as part of his investigation into the differences between static and dynamic electricity? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Massacre of Glencoe (1692)Following the deposition of King James II in 1689 and the accession of William III, some Scottish clans fought—and failed—to restore James to the throne. In 1691, William offered to pardon all Highland clans that took an oath of allegiance to him before January 1, 1692. The MacDonald clan of Glencoe missed the deadline by six days, and for this they paid with their lives. The unsuspecting MacDonalds were massacred in their homes by soldiers that had arrived seeking shelter how many days earlier? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mary "the Rich" of Burgundy (1457)The only surviving child of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, Mary inherited the vast Burgundian domains in France and the Low Countries upon her father's death in 1477. Louis XI of France immediately annexed some of these and, hoping to gain possession of the rest, proposed that she wed his son Charles. She instead married Maximilian of Austria, establishing the Hapsburgs in the Low Countries and initiating the long rivalry between France and Austria. What Great Privilege did she grant? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To attain happiness in another world we need only to believe something, while to secure it in this world we must do something.Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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pull a face (at someone)— To make a grimacing or humorously distorted facial expression (at someone). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Parentalia (2022)This was an ancient Roman festival held in honor of the manes, or souls of the dead—in particular, deceased relatives. It began a season for remembering the dead, which ended with the Feralia on February 21. This week was a quiet, serious occasion, without the rowdiness that characterized other Roman festivals. Everything, including the temples, closed down, and people decorated graves with flowers and left food—sometimes elaborate banquets—in the cemeteries in the belief that it would be eaten by the spirits of the deceased. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: swallow | |