Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 5, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ascendancy
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Adding Verb Phrases to a SentenceVerb phrases add additional information to a sentence. Because verb phrases can be made up of more than one verb, as well as the information relating to those verbs, we can add quite a bit of information into a single sentence. This additional information is used to answer what questions? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Energy WeaponsDirected-energy weapons are those that transfer energy to a target without the use of a projectile. Types of energy used or proposed for such weapons include sound, radio, light, particles, and plasma—all of which could be used for a number of different applications, including destroying targets, causing disorientation, or disabling machinery. Although many so-called energy weapons are the stuff of science fiction, some are in development or even in limited use. What are some examples? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Flight 19 Is Lost in the Bermuda Triangle (1945)Flight 19 was the designation of five US Navy bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle during a navigation training flight from a naval air station in Florida. All 14 airmen involved in the exercise were lost. The search-and-rescue flight that went after them also disappeared, along with its 13-man crew, and is assumed to have exploded in midair. No wreckage from any of the six aircraft has ever been positively identified. What did Navy investigators conclude happened to Flight 19? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Christina Rossetti (1830)Christina Rossetti was one of England's most important female poets of the Victorian era. It is little wonder that she became a poet, given her lineage. Her great-grandfather was a poet, her grandfather was a writer and scholar, and her father was the famous poet and scholar Gabriele Rossetti. Her three siblings followed similar paths. Religious themes dominate her poems, which run the gamut from romantic to devotional to children's poetry. What popular Christmas carol did she pen? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
live in an/(one's) ivory tower— To reside or exist in a place or among a social circle that is characterized by effete academic intelligence and thus is out of touch with or aloof from the realities of life. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Faunalia Rustica (2024)In Roman mythology Faunus was a god of the forest who was also associated with fertility. It was believed that eerie noises in the woods came from Faunus. The Faunalia was mostly celebrated by farmers and other rural workers on December 5 with feasting and games. For a time, city-dwellers adopted the festival and observed it on February 13. Faunus was known as the brother, father, or husband of Bona Dea. The Fauni, or fauns, were spirits of the forest who resembled the satyrs of Greek legend. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: jointfishplate - A type of metal plate used to strengthen a joint (from fish, meaning "mend"). More... seam - Etymologically, a joint made by sewing. More... ankylosis - Stiffness or immobility in a joint. More... arthralgia, arthritis - Arthralgia is pain in a joint, from Greek arthron, "joint," which also gives us the word arthritis. More... | |