Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, April 9, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
chophouse
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Inflection (Accidence)Inflection (also known as accidence or flection) is the way in which a word is changed or altered in form in order to achieve a new, specific meaning. What is declension? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Boy Who Sees with SoundMost bats navigate the world and locate prey through the use of echolocation, a biological sonar process in which an animal emits a sound and then uses the resulting echoes to establish the locations and identities of nearby objects. Ben Underwood, who lost his eyes to cancer at the age of three, is one of the few people who has honed his own echolocation skills and uses the technique to determine the position, size, shape, and composition of objects near him. What sports does Underwood play? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 The American Civil War Ends at Appomattox Court House (1865)The first major engagement of the US Civil War was the First Battle of Bull Run, fought in 1861 partly on the farm of Wilmer McLean in Manassas, Virginia. A few years later, McLean moved to Appomattox Court House, a town which, coincidentally, would soon be the site of the war's effective end. It was there that Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in McLean's parlor. Why did Grant stop Union troops when they began to celebrate the victory? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Eadweard J. Muybridge (1830)Muybridge was an eccentric photographic innovator who left a vast and varied body of work. He is best known for his pioneering use of multiple still cameras to photograph the stages of motion. Hired by Leland Stanford to answer the question of whether there is a moment during a horse's stride when all four of its hooves are off the ground, he developed a special shutter for his cameras and a method for triggering them sequentially. Why was he acquitted of murdering his wife's lover? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 An utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
have its/(one's) day— To be at the height of or experience success or prosperity. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Passion Play at Tzintzuntzan (2020)The Penitentes, or penitents, are a lay brotherhood of religious flagellants who often participate in Passion plays dramatizing the events of the last days in the life of Jesus. One of the most complete and colorful Passion plays is the one staged in Tzintzuntzan in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. Performed in an olive grove near the church, the play begins at noon on the Thursday preceding Easter with a representation of the Last Supper and continues until midnight on Good Friday. The penitents wear black loincloths and face-coverings, carrying heavy crosses in imitation of Jesus. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: witchtroll - Originally a witch or sorceress. More... fly-by-night - Said to be an old term of reproach to a woman signifying that she was a witch, and was extended to "anyone who departs hastily from a recent activity," especially while owing money. More... hag - First meant "witch." More... witch - In Old English, it was actually wicca and originally (c. 890) was a man who practiced magic or sorcery, who we now call a wizard; by the year 1000, witch came to be defined as "a female magician or sorceress." More... | |