Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, January 24, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
snippet
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Using Periods with Quotation MarksIf a sentence uses quotation marks to indicate something that another person has said, and the quotation marks appear at the end of the sentence, the period can appear in one of two places. In American English, the punctuation used at the end of direct speech always appears within the quotation marks. However, in British English, where are periods that end quotations usually placed? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Rust BeltThe Rust Belt is an economic region in the northeast quadrant of the US, including the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The term gained wide use in the 1970s, as the once dominant industrial region became noted for the abandonment of factories and unemployment. Although some Rust Belt cities have improved after the expansion of non-manufacturing industries, others have been unable to do so. What US city has lost more than half of its population in recent decades? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Serial Killer Ted Bundy Is Executed (1989)In December 1977, Ted Bundy escaped from jail in Colorado—for the second time—and fled to Florida. There, he resumed a streak of murders that he had begun in 1974, killing 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, among others. He was soon re-arrested, convicted of several murders, and sentenced to death. In an effort to avoid execution, Bundy confessed to numerous killings and promised to reveal more information in time. Despite this, he was executed in 1989. How many women is Bundy thought to have killed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Edith Wharton (1862)Born into upper-class American society, Wharton was privately educated. She married a Boston banker in 1885, but as her older husband's mental health deteriorated, she devoted herself to writing. The success of her 1905 novel The House of Mirth established her as a leading writer, but she is perhaps best known for 1911's Ethan Frome, which explores the grimmer possibilities of New England farm life. What common saying is thought to have originally referred to Wharton's family? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 There is a God in Heaven who will not forget to punish the wicked or reward the good; and it is not fitting that honest men should be the instruments of punishment to others, they being therein no way concerned.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
keep an eye peeled (for something or someone)— To remain vigilant or carefully watchful (for something or someone). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Alasitas Fair (2021)Each year on this day, a large marketplace in La Paz, Bolivia, is full of merchants who traditionally call out "Alasitas," an Aymara word meaning "buy from me," to potential buyers of their miniature wares. Shoppers can find tiny replicas of just about every kind of object—cars, houses, foods, furniture, clothes, tools, household goods, and, especially, money—and seek those which represent items they would like to have in the coming year. Presiding over all this downsized commerce is Ekeko, an Aymara god of material wealth, fertility, and good luck. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: perfumesilence - Lack of flavor in a distilled spirit or lack of scent in a flower, perfume, or spice is a "silence." More... perfume, eau de toilette, cologne, eau de cologne - Perfume or parfum is 20–40% oil and the highest concentration; eau de toilette is 10–18% oil, and cologne or eau de cologne is 3–9% oil. More... attar - A flower's essence, used for perfume. More... toilet water, eau de toilette - Eau de toilette, or toilet water, is a dilute form of perfume. More... | |