Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, March 31, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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two-piece
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Factitive Verbs vs. Causative VerbsCausative verbs tie a subject to other parts of the sentence that reveal more about the subject. In this way, they serve a similar function to factitive verbs. How do the two types of verbs differ? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The ChaperonThe chaperon was a type of hood worn throughout Western Europe in the Middle Ages. It was especially fashionable in 15th-century Burgundy. The French verb chaperonner, meaning "to cover with a hood," was derived from the name of the headgear and later came to mean "to protect." Under the influence of the verb sense, the French noun chaperon came to mean "escort," a meaning that was borrowed into English by the early 1700s. Why was Joan of Arc denounced for wearing a chaperon? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 UNIVAC Computer Delivered to the US Census Bureau (1951)By 1870, the US population was so large that hand-counting the census was no longer feasible. Despite the invention of a counting machine, by the time the 1880 census was tabulated, it was almost 1890. Dealing with so much data remained a problem until the late 1940s, when the Census Bureau commissioned the first civilian computer. In 1951, it was used to count part of the 1950 census and was so successful that the bureau bought another. What presidential election did UNIVAC correctly predict? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 César Chávez (1927)As the child of Mexican-American migrant laborers, Chávez spent his childhood in a succession of migrant camps, attending 65 different elementary schools. After a two-year stint in the Navy, he returned to migrant farm work and, in 1962, began organizing the largely Latino farmworkers of Arizona and California. A charismatic figure, he used strikes and nationwide boycotts to win union recognition and contracts from California grape and lettuce growers. How long did the first strike last? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a motor mouth— A person who talks incessantly or irrepressibly. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Malta Freedom Day (2025)In 1814, Malta became a crown colony of the British empire. Although Malta gained independence in 1964, the British armed forces did not completely leave until March 31, 1979. This freed Malta of foreign military occupation for the first time in history. In Malta, Freedom Day is a public holiday that commemorates the day the last of the British military left the Maltese Islands. On this holiday, a ceremony is held at the War Memorial in Floriana. The main events of the day take place around the Freedom Day Monument in Vittoriosa. In the afternoon, a competitive regatta is held in Grand Harbour. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pinkpink - If you pink your eyes, you half-shut them. More... in the pink - Comes from the English foxhunting tradition; people who foxhunt often wear scarlet jackets and are called pinks—so if you are in the pink, you are about to set off to gallop your horse across country. More... incarnadine - Can mean "flesh-colored or pink," but also "crimson, blood-red." More... pink - The color gets its name from the flowering plant of the same name. More... | |