Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, January 29, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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quixotic
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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ParticlesA particle is a word that does not have semantic meaning on its own, but instead relies on the word it is paired with to have meaning. What are the only two things that a particle is used to create? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Crown-of-Thorns StarfishCrown-of-thorns starfish are found on coral reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region. These echinoderms, which can grow as large as 15.75 inches (40 cm) in diameter, are covered with thorny spines that release a neurotoxin capable of causing pain, nausea, and swelling in humans. They are voracious predators and are partly responsible for the destruction of coral reefs; a crown-of-thorns can consume as much as six square meters of reef annually. What sea creatures prey on these starfish? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US President George W. Bush Introduces the "Axis of Evil" (2002)During his 2002 State of the Union Address, US President George W. Bush described the countries of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an "Axis of Evil" for their alleged support of terrorism. Since then, the phrase has spawned many imitations, including the Eritrean-coined "Axis of Belligerence," the South American "Axis of Good," and the "Axis of Diesel" proposed by The Economist magazine. What word did Bush speechwriter David Frum originally use instead of "evil"? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 James Jamerson (1936)Jamerson learned to play bass guitar in high school in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1950s and thereafter found work as a studio musician for Motown Records. He went on to perform on hundreds of songs by artists like Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, and The Supremes, but his work was largely uncredited, and he died in relative obscurity at the age of 47. Today, however, he is regarded as one of the most influential bassists in modern history. One of his fingers even had its own nickname. What was it? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless.Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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yankee dime— A kiss. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Thomas Paine Day (2024)Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was a propagandist and humanitarian whose influential pamphlet, Common Sense, is credited with persuading the American colonies to declare their independence from Great Britain. On January 29, Paine's birthday, he is honored by members of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association in New Rochelle, New York. They lay a wreath at his monument in the Thomas Paine Memorial Museum, which houses some of his letters and personal effects. The cottage in which Paine lived is only a short walk away. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: rejectdiscard - First meant "throw out or reject a card from a hand." More... eighty-six - "Reject, discard"—may be rhyming slang for "nix." More... quash - From Latin quatere, "shake," it generally means "reject as invalid, especially by legal procedure," or "put an end to; suppress." More... reprove - To reject or express disapproval of something. More... | |