Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, March 11, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
comestible
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Pronouns as the SubjectPronouns stand in for a person or thing we are speaking about or referring to; they are used to avoid repetition in speech or writing. When the personal pronouns in the subjective case act as substitutes for the subject of the clause or sentence, what are they known as? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The TamburaThe tambura is a pear-shaped, unfretted lute, usually with four strings, used as a drone in Indian music. It produces a characteristic buzzing sound that is used to set the harmonic foundation for a song without contributing to the melody. The Indian tambura may be related to the Turkish tambur as well as many other similarly-named Asian lutes. Though readily available, electronic tamburas are seen as inferior. Many tamburas are carved from wood, but some are made of what other organic material? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Mikhail Gorbachev Becomes Leader of the Soviet Union (1985)In 1985, after the death of the third Soviet leader in two years, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, ushering in an era of political reform with his policies of glasnost and perestroika. He cultivated warmer relations with the US and others and even supported the democratically elected governments that replaced the communist regimes of eastern Europe. In 1991, he resigned the presidency of the USSR, which ceased to exist the same day. How did his own policies lead to the end of his administration? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (1915)In the 1950s, Licklider—who had studied math and physics and had a doctorate in psychology—began studying information technology. He was appointed head of information processing at ARPA, the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency, in the early 60s. There, he laid the groundwork for computer networking and ARPANET, the precursor of the Internet. He is considered one of the most important figures in computing history and is often compared to what historical trailblazer? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 It is very difficult to be wholly joyous or wholly sad on this earth. The comic, when it is human, soon takes upon itself a face of pain; and some of our griefs...have their source in weaknesses which must be recognized with smiling compassion as the common inheritance of us all.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
have enough on (one's) plate— To be sufficiently busy or preoccupied with work, problems, or difficulties as to be unable or unwilling to cope with anything more. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Lithuania Restoration of Statehood Day (2020)Lithuania had been independent for only 12 years when the Soviets occupied the country in 1940. The people voted for self-rule in February 1990, and the new democratically elected parliament declared independence from the U.S.S.R. on March 11, 1990. Restoration of Statehood Day is an official holiday in Lithuania. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: pushingcentrifugal, centripetal - Centrifugal force pulls away or pushes outward; centripetal draws toward or pulls inward. More... cow tipping - A widely frowned-upon activity whereby one knocks over a sleeping cow (which sleeps standing up) by pushing on its side. More... exert - Can refer to a seed's pushing out or up. More... crowd - Its underlying notion is of "pushing, pressing," from Old English crudan, "press." More... | |