Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, August 16, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
actuate
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Collective NounsCollective nouns are nouns that refer to a collection or group of multiple people, animals, or things. They usually function as singular nouns in a sentence, but they are occasionally used as plurals, too. What are some examples of collective nouns that can only be plural? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Benjamin BrittenConsidered the most significant British composer since Henry Purcell, Britten first won international acclaim in 1937 for his Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge for string orchestra. His operas, admired for their skillful setting of English words and their orchestral interludes, include The Rape of Lucretia, The Turn of the Screw, and Death in Venice. In 1976, he became the first British composer in history to be ennobled. What honor did he decline? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 The Peterloo Massacre (1819)On August 16, 1819, 60,000 men, women, and children gathered at St. Peter's Field in Manchester, England, to protest unemployment and high food prices. To disperse the gathering, city officials sent in the untrained volunteer cavalry, which attacked the unarmed crowd with sabers. At least 11 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded. The incident, likened to the Battle of Waterloo, sparked widespread indignation. In 2007, a memorial plaque at the site was changed to include what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Dame Mary Gilmore (1865)Gilmore was a prominent Australian socialist poet and journalist who gained a reputation as a champion of the working class and the oppressed. In the late 1890s, she moved to the New Australia utopian socialist settlement in Paraguay, but she returned to Australia following its failure. In 1908, she became an editor of the Australian Workers' Union newspaper, and she published her first volume of poems two years later. On what denomination of Australian currency does her image and poetry appear? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you've conquered human nature.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
lust for life— Intense eagerness to experience all that life has to offer. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 St. Roch's Day (2021)Also known as Roque or Rock, St. Roch (c. 1295-c. 1327) was a Frenchman who went on a pilgrimage to Rome. The plague struck while he was there, and, legend has it, he spent his time healing the afflicted by miraculous means. Known as the patron saint of the sick and the plague-stricken, St. Roch is honored annually throughout Italy. In Florence, there is a flower festival that includes a 14th-century historical costume parade, races, and competitions. In Realmonte, Sicily, the saint's poverty is recalled with a procession of people dressed in rags who carry a shabby picture of the saint. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: torchfuneral - Once was a torchlight procession, from Latin funis, "torch"—because funerals of the Romans took place at night by torchlight. More... kindle - The verb is related to Old Norse kyndill, "candle, torch." More... Drummond light - A torch that burns calcium oxide (lime) and gives off intense white light, it was named for Scottish engineer Capt. Thomas Drummond, R.E. (1797-1840), who invented it around 1825. More... torch - From Latin torquere, it first referred to tarred twists of frayed rope. More... | |