Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, August 7, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
embolden
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Reflexive Verbs with Implied ObjectsReflexive verbs are verbs whose subjects are also their direct objects. They can most easily be identified by the use of reflexive pronouns, although certain reflexive verbs can have reflexive pronouns as direct objects that are implied and therefore omitted from the sentence. What are some such verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Three Gorges DamThe largest hydroelectric dam in the world, China's Three Gorges Dam stretches 1.4 miles (2.3 km) across the Yangtze River. Begun in 1993 and largely completed by 2006, the controversial project displaced more than a million people and inundated huge tracts of land. However, it increased the river's shipping capacity, reduced the threat of flooding, and will eventually generate nearly 85 billion kilowatts a year. How much electricity will the dam have to generate to recoup building costs? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Federal Emergency Declared at Love Canal in New York (1978)In the 1940s and 50s, an abandoned canal in Niagara Falls, New York, became a dumping ground for chemical waste. It was later filled in, and after the land was given to the city of Niagara Falls by the chemical company, houses and an elementary school were built there. By the late 1970s, toxic chemicals had risen to the surface, and residents were found to have a high incidence of chromosome damage. A federal emergency was declared in 1978, and residents were evacuated. What happened to them? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Emil Nolde (1867)Nolde was a German painter and printmaker. Fervently religious, he often painted supernatural imagery, such as demonic heads and mystic appearances. Impressed by the art he saw on a 1913 expedition to the East Indies, he began to paint brooding landscapes and colorful flowers. As a printmaker, he was noted for his crudely cut, stark black-and-white woodcuts. Though he was an early advocate of the Nazi party, the party condemned his art and forbade him to paint. What did he do instead? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Every man is as heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
hair-splittingly— With extremely minute, unimportant, or imperceptible differences or details. (Used before an adjective.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Marian Days (2020)In 1975, the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, a Vietnamese religious order, established a new campus in Carthage, Missouri. Marian Days, which the small town of Carthage has hosted since 1977, is a time for Vietnamese Catholics to honor the Mother of Jesus and recognize the protection she offered to refugees. The weekend's events, which include daily Masses, penance ceremonies, benedictions, and religious lectures, lead up to the Saturday celebration, which consists of a parade for the Virgin Mary as well as a fireworks and balloon ceremony. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: luckhapless, happiness - Hapless means one is lacking hap, "good fortune, luck"; the words happy and happiness also have the root "hap." More... happen - Fairly new to English, from hap, "chance, luck," which was borrowed from Old Norse happ. More... fortune - Latin fors, "chance," formed fortuna, "that which fate brings along," hence fortune, "luck" or "good luck." More... potluck - Comes from the practice of throwing leftovers in a pot—with luck determining how good the stew would taste. More... | |