Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, February 17, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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vilipend
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using "Do" in Imperative SentencesWe can use the auxiliary verb "do" before the main verb of an imperative sentence. What does this add to the tone of the command, instruction, or request? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 KirishitanThe Kirishitan were Japanese converts to Catholicism in the 16th and 17th centuries. Missionary activity began in Japan soon after Portuguese shipping arrived in 1543. By the end of the century, the Japanese Christian community had grown to about 300,000—the largest non-European Christian community in the world. In 1614, Christianity was banned. Despite the threat of execution, some Kirishitan maintained their religion in secret. What tactic did the government use to expose suspected Christians? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Southern Leyte Mudslide (2006)After 10 days of heavy rains and a minor earthquake, a cliff face in the Southern Leyte province of the Philippines collapsed, initiating the world's deadliest single landslide in nearly two decades. More than 1,100 people were killed when a torrent of rocks, mud, and debris buried the village of Guinsaugon. The international community quickly came to the aid of the island nation, but difficult conditions hampered the relief effort. What do some believe also contributed to the deadly landslide? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836)One of the best 19th-century lyric poets, Bécquer was a Spanish poet and writer of romantic tales. Orphaned by 11, unhappily married, and living in poverty for most of his brief life, he became lonely and introspective. His celebrated suite of poems, Rimas, is characterized by the melancholy and resigned bitterness of the romantics. He was moderately well known during his life but gained wider acclaim following the posthumous publication of many of his works. What caused his early death? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be put in (one's) place— To be humbled or have one's dignity lowered (by someone); to be made aware that one is not as important, respected, influential, etc., as one thinks. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bonden Festival (2022)At the Bonden (or Bonten) Festival at Yokote in the Akita Prefecture of Japan, each district of the city has a team of young men to carry its bonden in a race to the Asahiokayama-jinja shrine. The bonden is a 10-foot (3-m) bamboo pole, draped with heavy cloth and topped by a platform holding a figure of the Animal of the Year. Those carrying the bonden gradually increase their pace until they are running, often pushing members of competing teams to the ground to be the first to the top. The team that arrives first wins the privilege of offering its bonden to the kami, or god. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: seatsdress circle - So called because it is a circular row of seats at an entertainment, the spectators of which are expected to be in dress clothes. More... sedile - A seat by the altar for a member of the church clergy. More... tandem - From Latin, literally "eventually, at length," and then, metaphorically, "acting conjointly"; in the 1880s, it was transferred from a two-horse carriage to a bicycle with two seats, one behind the other. More... circus - Latin for "ring," its first use was for the arena of Roman antiquity, an oval or circular area enclosed by tiers of seats and usually covered by a tent. More... | |