Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, February 22, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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belly-up
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Prepositions of TimeA preposition of time describes when or for how long something occurred or will occur. What are the three most common prepositions of time? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The ManananggalThe manananggal is a mythical creature of Filipino folklore usually described as an older woman capable of severing her upper body from her lower half and then taking flight with huge bat-like wings. The creature is said to hunt at night, sucking the blood of its unsuspecting victims with its proboscis-like tongue. Like vampires, the manananggal detests garlic, and smearing it on its lower body while the upper part is away will result in the creature's death. How does one become a manananggal? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Securitas Depot Robbery (2006)In an elaborate heist that took place over the course of several hours, the manager of the Securitas bank depot in Kent, England, was abducted along with his family and forced by a gang of masked, armed men to help steal approximately £53 million. In the process, 14 other staff members at the depot were held captive. It was the largest robbery in British history, and dozens of people would eventually be arrested in connection with it. What had previously been the UK's largest cash robbery? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Arthur Schopenhauer (1788)An unhappy and solitary man, Schopenhauer was a German philosopher whose works earned him the title "the philosopher of pessimism." The bias of his own temperament and experience was crucial to the development of his celebrated philosophy—reflections on the theory of knowledge and the philosophy of nature, aesthetics, and ethics—which he presented with such clarity and skill as to gain eventual recognition as one of the great philosophers. Schopenhauer was heavily influenced by what Hindu texts? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know."W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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quake like a leaf— To tremble violently with fear or nervousness. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Abu Simbel Festival (2022)This festival celebrates the two days of the year on which the light of the rising sun can reach the 180-foot-deep innermost chambers of Abu Simbel, the great temple of Ramesses II, in Egypt. The temple was designed so that only on these two days in February and October does the sun shine on three of the four gods in the sanctuary: Amen-Re, Ramses, and Re-Horakhty. It is thought that there must have been ritual celebrations in ancient times on the days when the sun penetrated the sanctuary. Today, television covers the event, and people gather to see the sunrise and to meditate. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: losingidiot strings - Refers to the strings that attach mittens to prevent a child from losing one. More... in hock - Can be traced to the card game faro, in which the last card in the box was called the hocketty card; when a player bet on a card that ended up in hock, he was at a disadvantage and was himself in hock and at risk of losing his bets. More... jeopardy - Comes from French ieu parti, "(evenly) divided game" (from Latin jocus partitus, "divided game"), referring originally to chess, in which the chances of winning and losing are balanced. More... pain - Originally meant punishment for a crime or offense—sometimes by losing one's head. More... | |