Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, April 25, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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chintzy
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Absolute PhrasesAn absolute phrase (also known as an absolute construction) is a grammatically independent group of words that serves to modify an entire sentence. Because an absolute phrase is not an integral part of the sentence, how is it always set apart? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Thomas GainsboroughGainsborough was a British landscape and portrait painter. While he painted landscapes for pleasure, portraiture was his profession. In 1759, he moved to the fashionable spa of Bath, where his works would be seen by a wider—and wealthier—public. During that time, he developed a lucrative portrait practice and completed his famous The Blue Boy. He was a favorite of the royal family and appears to have been preferred above his rival, what other famous portrait painter? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Robinson Crusoe Is Published (1719)Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is a fictional autobiography of the eponymous English castaway marooned on a desert island for 28 years. During this time, Crusoe encounters cannibals, captives, and mutineers and endures endless hardships while preserving his human integrity. The first volume of Defoe's Crusoe story was published in 1719 and garnered immediate acclaim. It is considered by some critics to be the first true English novel. What is the book's full title? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Oliver Cromwell (1599)A controversial figure in English history, Cromwell was a leader of the parliamentary forces that battled the royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of Charles I in 1649, Cromwell became lord protector and virtual dictator of England and raised his country's status once more to that of a leading European power by means of a strict military administration and the enforcement of the Puritan moral code. What did the royalists do to his corpse when they returned to power in 1660? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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set (someone) by the ears— To cause (someone, generally a group of two or more people) to engage in a squabble, dispute, or altercation. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Portugal Liberation Day (2022)Liberation Day, or Liberty Day, is a public holiday commemorating the military coup on this day in 1974 that removed Marcello Caetano (1906-1980) from power, reflecting the opposition of many Portuguese to their government's military policies and wars in Africa. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: rollingbeachcomber - A long wave rolling in from the sea. More... sprag - A block placed behind a car wheel to keep it from rolling down a hill. More... keep the ball rolling - An allusion to rugby or bandy. More... voluble - "Flowing with speech, talkative"; such a person has words "rolling" off their tongue. More... | |