Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, March 29, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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brainy
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Auxiliary VerbsAuxiliary verbs are verbs that add functional meaning to other "main" or "full" verbs in a clause. They are used to create different tenses or aspects, to form negatives and interrogatives, or to add emphasis to a sentence. What are auxiliary verbs also called? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Ivory CarvingHumans have been carving animal tusks, or ivory, since prehistoric times. Ivory carvings have been found in European caves and in ancient Chinese tombs, and the material is even referenced in the Bible. Though a number of animals—including modern narwhals and walruses as well as long-dead mammoths—have ivory tusks, elephants have historically been the most significant source of the highly valued material. What ancient Egyptian ivory statuette is considered a masterpiece? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Routledge Expedition Arrives at Easter Island (1914)Today known by its traditional name of Rapa Nui, Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited locations on Earth. The first study of the island by outsiders was undertaken by British archaeologist Katherine Routledge, who spent 16 months on Rapa Nui studying its indigenous Polynesian culture. She interviewed residents and catalogued the island's now-famous stone statues. Her scholarship proved to be invaluable to later researchers. Why did Routledge's husband eventually have her kidnapped? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir John McEwen (1900)McEwen was an Australian politician and the country's 18th prime minister. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1934 and served in several ministerial posts between 1937 and 1941. He was prime minister for three weeks following the disappearance and presumed death of Prime Minister Harold Holt in 1967, and he caused a leadership crisis by announcing that he and his party colleagues would refuse to serve in a government led by William McMahon. What was McEwen's objection to McMahon? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The state lieth in all languages of good and evil; and whatever it saith it lieth; and whatever it hath it hath stolen.Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be sick to death of (something)— To be or become exceedingly wearied by, bored of, or exasperated with something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Borrowed Days (2022)According to an old Scottish rhyme, the last three days in March were "borrowed" from April, in return for which March promised to destroy three young sheep. Other references go back even farther. Both an ancient calendar of the Church of Rome and a 1548 book known as The Complaynt of Scotland allude to the days at the end of March as being more like winter than spring. Whatever their origin, it seems likely that the wet, windy weather that so often comes at the end of March gave rise to the notion that this month had to "borrow" some additional time. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sufferimpatient - Meaning "not able to bear or suffer," based on Latin pati, "to suffer." More... compatible - Its base is Latin compati, "suffer with." More... harrow, harrowing - To harrow is to wound the feelings or cause to suffer—which gives us harrowing. More... suffer - To suffer something is, etymologically, to "hold or sustain it from underneath," from Latin sufferre, "sustain." More... | |