Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, April 14, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pyrosis
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Reciprocal PronounsReciprocal pronouns are used to refer to two or more people who are or were the subject of the same verb, with all parties receiving the action in the same way. What are the two reciprocal pronouns in English? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Tay al-ArdTay al-Ard, literally translated to mean "folding up of the earth," is the name for thaumaturgical teleportation in the mystical form of Islamic religious and philosophical tradition. Some explain the concept as traversing the earth without moving, while others explain that it is the earth which is displaced under the traveler's feet. Tay al-Ard is a common concept in Sunni, Shia, and Sufi belief, though each group interprets it slightly differently. What Quranic verses allude to such travel? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Volvo Car Company Founded (1927)In 1924, Assar Gabrielsson, sales manager at the Swedish ball-bearing manufacturer SKF, and engineer Gustaf Larson decided to build an automobile that could withstand Sweden's rough roads and harsh climate. Their first car—nicknamed "Jakob"—rolled off the line on April 14, 1927, which Volvo considers its founding date. The following year, they created a truck that was immediately popular and contributed to the company's early success. The name Volvo is Latin, not Swedish, and means what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Julie Frances Christie (1941)Christie is a British actress who became an icon of the 1960s "Swinging London" era. Just four years after she made her film debut, she won an Academy Award for her performance in Darling (1965). Throughout the course of her long career, she has been notoriously selective about the roles she accepts and has appeared in such notable films as Dr. Zhivago and Hamlet. After resisting the idea of marriage for many years, Christie finally married for the first time at what age? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 You think that you are Ann's suitor; that you are the pursuer and she the pursued; that it is your part to woo, to persuade, to prevail, to overcome. Fool: it is you who are the pursued, the marked-down quarry, the destined prey.George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have rocks in (one's) head— To be thoroughly stupid, crazy, absurd, incorrect, etc. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bisket Jatra (2017)The festival of the new year in Nepal is celebrated with exchanges of greetings and in some areas with ritual bathing. The most important celebration is Bisket Jatra, which means the "festival after the death of the serpent." In Bhaktapur, the new year is celebrated by parading images of gods in chariots. The main attraction of the festival is the erection of a ceremonial pole—a lingam or phallic symbol. This is a peeled tree trunk as much as 80 feet in length that is erected using bamboo and heavy ropes while crowds watch. On New Year's Day, the pole is torn down. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: midnightbeauty sleep - First defined as sleep taken before midnight, regarded as the most refreshing portion. More... mesonoxian - Means "of or related to midnight." More... quarternight - Halfway between sundown and midnight. More... small hours - Midnight or 1 a.m. to dawn, when the numbered hours are "small." More... | |