Today's Highlights
| Word of the Day | |||||||
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disbelieve
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Silent SpeechSilent speech refers to a direct quotation that is said internally (i.e., silently) by someone to him- or herself. We still use reporting verbs, and we often apply the exact same punctuation rules to silent speech that we use in direct speech. What do some writers use to make silent speech stand out from the rest of the text? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Crystal Palace ExhibitionAlso known as the Great Exhibition, the Crystal Palace Exhibition was an international fair held in Hyde Park, London, in 1851. The first in a series of popular 19th-century World's Fairs, the event was organized as a celebration of modern industrial technology and design and drew six million people. An architecturally adventurous and massive glass building, dubbed the Crystal Palace, was designed to house the show. How much did admission cost? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Most Lopsided College Football Game in US History (1916)In 1916, Tennessee's tiny Cumberland University canceled its football program, disbanding its team. Nevertheless, Georgia Tech's football coach, John Heisman, threatened the school with a $3,000 fine—a large sum of money at the time—if its team failed to show up to their scheduled game. Cumberland was forced to recruit new players to face Georgia Tech, and the trouncing they received is said to have been revenge for a baseball game in which Cumberland allegedly cheated. What was the final score? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, AKA Joe Hill (1879)A Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter in the early 1900s, Hill penned songs such as "The Preacher and the Slave," in which he coined the phrase "pie in the sky." In 1915, he was convicted on circumstantial evidence of killing a grocer and his son. To the labor movement, Hill's execution made him a martyr. Because he did not want to be buried in Utah, his ashes were shipped to supporters around the world. What intriguing evidence, found in his coat, seemed to support his innocence? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense.Mark Twain (1835-1910) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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play phone tag— To engage in a series of telephone calls with another person in which each time one party calls, the other is not available to answer. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Okunchi Matsuri (2025)The Okunchi Festival in Nagasaki dates back to the 17th century, when many Chinese lived in the city and when both Dutch and Chinese traders regularly anchored their ships there. The festival pays tribute to these traders by presenting both a Dutch dance and a Chinese dragon dance, along with street fairs and other entertainment. The Okunchi Festival also features the traditional procession of the mikoshi—the ornate palanquin on which the local deity is believed to descend for a ride as it is carried through the streets. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: manuscriptacephalous - A manuscript lacking a beginning could be called acephalous. More... autograph - Comes from Greek, then Latin autographum, meaning "self-written"; it originally meant "author's own manuscript." More... manuscript - Originally an adjective meaning "written by hand"; manuscript can refer to a handwritten piece of music. More... palimpsest - Can describe a manuscript or writing surface that has been reused, erased, or altered while retaining traces of its earlier form—and, by extension, an object, place, or area that reflects its history. More... | |
| Match Up | |
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| Mismatch | |
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