Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, August 19, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pyrite
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Comma SplicesA comma splice occurs when we join two independent clauses with a comma. Why can't we use a comma in this situation? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Highland Potato Famine (1846-1857)In the mid 19th century, at a time when most of the crofters, or tenants, of the Scottish Highlands were dependent on potatoes as a source of food, their potato crops were blighted with a terrible fungal disease that caused the crop to fail for the next ten years. The blight was similar to the contemporaneous Irish Potato Famine, but the latter was perhaps more severe and closer to a true famine. What was the landlords' solution to the problem of starving crofters? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 American Outlaw John Wesley Hardin Shot Dead (1895)Hardin was an American desperado who claimed to have killed 42 men, one of them allegedly for snoring. He became a gambler and a gunman very early in life, but his friends and gunfighting skills helped him evade the authorities until 1877, when he was sentenced to 25 years for killing a sheriff. He studied law in prison and was released after serving 16 years. Pardoned in 1894, he passed the bar exam and began to practice law, but a local constable shot him to death a year later for what reason? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Madame du Barry (1743)Madame du Barry was the mistress of Louis XV. She was first the mistress of Jean du Barry, who introduced her into Parisian high society. Admired for her beauty, she joined Louis XV's court in 1769 after a nominal marriage to Jean's brother, a nobleman, qualified her to be Louis's official royal mistress. Though she exercised little political influence, her unpopularity contributed to the decline of the prestige of the crown in the early 1770s. What happened to her during the French Revolution? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities.Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth— Compensation or retribution that is (or should be) of an equal amount or degree to the injury or offense that was originally dealt. The saying comes from various passages in the Old Testament, including in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Aviation Day (2019)National Aviation Day honors the birthday of the American inventor and early manufacturer of airplanes, Orville Wright (1871-1948), as well as the progress that has been made in manned flight since the Wright Brothers made their historic 120-foot flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. Parachute jumping, glider demonstrations, films, airplane rides, and displays of new and antique aircraft are popular events on this day, and open house celebrations are often held at local airports. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tortureordeal - From Old English ordel, "judgment," figuratively, an experience testing endurance, patience, courage, etc.—also a test of guilt or innocence that was one of severe pain or torture. More... torment - Comes from a Latin word, tormentum, for an instrument of torture. More... tortuous, torturous - Tortuous is "winding, crooked, full of twists and turns," and torturous, based on "torture," is "painful, characterized by suffering." More... travel - From Latin trepaliare, "torture," it evolved into "journey" from the allusion to the inevitable trouble of medieval travel. More... | |