Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, May 12, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
refulgent
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
ApostrophesAn apostrophe is a punctuation mark that primarily serves to indicate either grammatical possession or the contraction of two words. What is a proclitic? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The BurqaThe burqa is a loose, opaque, and all-enveloping outer garment worn by women in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India. Similar garments in the Middle East are known as the hijab or chador. The burqa covers the wearer's entire face except for a small region around the eyes. Because a full burqa conceals the entire body and includes a net panel that hides the wearer's eyes, some governments have passed legislation prohibiting it. In 2010, how much was a woman fined for wearing a burqa? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Priest Attempts to Assassinate the Pope in Portugal (1982)Almost a year to the day after Pope John Paul II was shot by a Turkish gunman, a priest named Juan María Fernández y Krohn attacked the pontiff with a bayonet. It was long thought that the would-be assassin was restrained before he could wound the pope, but a former aide now claims that the pope was indeed injured. During his trial, Krohn accused the pope of being a secret communist agent in league with the USSR. After his release from prison, Krohn went on to practice law in what country? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Katharine Hepburn (1907)Hepburn made her Broadway debut in 1928 and became a star with her first film, A Bill of Divorcement, in 1932. She brought a spirited individuality and strength of character to the screen in her roles in films such as Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, and The African Queen. She made eight films with her longtime partner Spencer Tracy, eventually starring in 43 films. No actress has ever won more Academy Awards than Hepburn. How many did she win? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 In diving to the bottom of pleasure we bring up more gravel than pearls.Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
golden years— The years following one's retirement (generally after the age of 65). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Lag B'Omer (2020)The name of this Jewish holiday means "thirty-three omer," an omer being a sheaf of barley or wheat. In the biblical book of Leviticus, the people were commanded by Jehovah to make an offering of a sheaf of barley on each of the 50 days between Passover and Shavuot. After the evening service, the number of the day was solemnly announced, and in time this ceremony came to be known as "the counting of the omer." Lag ba-Omer represents a break in the otherwise solemn season between Passover and Shavuot. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: simpletondodo - Comes from Portuguese doudo, "fool, simpleton," from the bird's awkward appearance. More... doodle - Originally a noun meaning "fool, simpleton," from German dudeltopf, it came to mean absent-minded scribbling. More... gullible - A derivative of archaic gull, "dupe" or "simpleton." More... half-wit - Originally was "a would-be wit whose abilities are mediocre"; the sense of "simpleton" (one lacking all his wits) is attested to 1755. More... | |