Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, August 1, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
lampoon
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
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 | |
|---|---|
 Elizabeth of BohemiaThe daughter of James I of England, Elizabeth was married to elector palatine Frederick V in 1613 to cement an alliance between English and German Protestantism. She became queen of Bohemia when her husband accepted the crown in 1619, but after his defeat by the Catholic League the next year, they went into exile. Her descendents founded the House of Hanover, which ruled England for nearly 200 years. What failed plot would have put nine-year-old Elizabeth on the English throne had it succeeded? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 New London Bridge Opens (1831)The London Bridge of nursery-rhyme fame was built around 1200. Damaged by many fires over the years, it was replaced with a new, five-arched, granite bridge in 1831. The New London Bridge spanned the city's River Thames for over a century. In 1968, American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch purchased and reconstructed the bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where it has since become Arizona's second biggest tourist attraction after the Grand Canyon. How much did McCulloch pay for the bridge? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Maria Mitchell (1818)The daughter of an amateur astronomer, Mitchell spent her formative years learning to observe the heavens. When she was 29, she discovered a comet. For her achievement, she was awarded a gold medal by the king of Denmark. Her reputation as an astronomer thus secured, she soon became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and, thereafter, to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. To which of America's Founding Fathers was Mitchell distantly related? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 A man in debt is so far a slave.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
wit's end— A state of distress that is reached when someone has no more patience. Often used in the phrase "at wit's end" or "at (one's) wit's end." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Trinidad and Tobago Emancipation Day (2022)Since 1985, August 1 has been celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago as Emancipation Day, rather than Columbus Discovery Day, as in former years. Slavery was abolished in 1833 throughout the British Empire, and eventually slaves in the colony of Trinidad and Tobago were freed. The day begins with an all-night vigil and includes religious services, cultural events, processions past historic landmarks, addresses by dignitaries, and an evening of shows with a torchlight procession to the National Stadium. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: noonhigh noon - Exactly 12 noon. More... luncheon - An extension of the word lunch, based on nuncheon, "a drink taken at noon." More... noon - Derived from the Latin word nona, "ninth," as it originally meant the ninth hour after sunrise, about 3 p.m. More... post meridiem - The expansion of p.m., from Latin, meaning "after noon" (1647). More... | |