Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, May 30, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
billfold
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Focusing AdverbsFocusing adverbs are used to draw attention to a particular part of a clause. They frequently point to verb phrases. Where can focusing adverbs be placed in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Death DriveIn his observations of World War I veterans, Sigmund Freud noticed that the men had a strange proclivity toward reenacting traumatic experiences. He also observed this tendency in young children who often play games that simulate unpleasant situations. To explain this, he introduced and later developed the concept of the death drive: a primitive impulse for destruction, decay, and death, manifested by a turning away from pleasure. What Freudian principle does the death drive violate? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Dominican Republic Dictator Rafael Trujillo Is Assassinated (1961)Trujillo was a military strongman who seized control of the Dominican Republic in 1930 and ruled it as a dictator for the next 30 years. He renamed the capital after himself and forced all citizens to join his political party. He brutally suppressed dissent and ordered the infamous 1937 Parsley Massacre, in which up to 30,000 Haitians living near the Dominican border were murdered. In 1961, Trujillo was ambushed and shot to death by seven men. Why was the 1937 massacre named after a garden herb? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 René Barrientos (1919)Barrientos was elected vice president of Bolivia in 1964, but he soon broke with the president and joined other army officers in a coup. He was installed as head of a military junta and became the sole president after winning the 1966 elections. He launched a moderate—albeit military—administration, retaining the reforms instituted by his predecessors. Three years later, he died in a helicopter crash. Why did he once jump out of an airplane with a parachute that had earlier failed to open? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you've conquered human nature.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
have (someone) coming and going— To put someone in an insescapable position or situation; to leave someone with no viable options or solutions. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Feast Day of St. Joan of Arc (2016)The second patron saint of France and one of the best known of all the saints, Joan of Arc was a young, pious peasant girl from the village of Domrémy. In 1428, she heard voices she identified as St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret telling her to help the dauphin, Charles VII, recover his kingdom from the British. Her mission was accomplished within 15 months, but Joan was captured by the king's enemies, tried for witchcraft and heresy, and burned at the stake in Rouen on May 30, 1431. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: wrinkle | |