Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, May 21, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
pommel
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Quantifying Uncountable NounsAlthough similar in nature to other nouns, uncountable nouns refer to things that cannot be divided into individual units, and that therefore cannot be made plural at all. How do we quantify them? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Giant Impact HypothesisThe giant impact hypothesis—the favored scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon—proposes that the Moon was created from the debris of a collision between a young Earth and a Mars-sized celestial body. Evidence for the hypothesis includes Moon samples indicating that its surface was once molten, the Moon's apparently relatively small iron core and lower density than that of Earth, and evidence of similar collisions in other solar systems. What evidence is inconsistent with the theory? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 World's Tallest Roller Coaster Opens in New Jersey (2005)Reaching a height of 456 feet (139 m) and with a top speed of 128 mph (206 km/h), the Kingda Ka roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in Jackson, New Jersey, became the tallest and the fastest roller coaster in the world when it opened in 2005. It took both titles from Cedar Point park's Top Thrill Dragster, which was designed by the same company and is nearly identical. Kingda Ka lost its title as the world's fastest roller coaster in 2010 to what attraction? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Mary Anning (1799)The daughter of a British cabinetmaker who supplemented his income by selling "curiosities" he recovered from cliffside fossil beds near his home, Mary Anning grew up collecting fossils. When she was just 12 years old, she and her brother discovered the first ichthyosaur skeleton to be correctly identified. As an adult, she continued the dangerous work of scouring the Lyme Regis cliffs for fossils and made a number of significant geological finds. What tongue twister might Anning have inspired? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 I keep six honest serving-men(They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
media darling— A very famous and popular person who receives exceptionally positive media coverage or attention. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Anastenaria (2025)Anastenaria is a firewalking ceremony in Greece, in the communes of Agia Eleni near Serres and of Langada near Thessalonike. Men and women, some holding red kerchiefs and some carrying icons of St. Constantine and St. Helen—in whose honor the ceremonies are held—dance barefooted on red-hot coals while folk musicians play. The custom is supposed to have originated in an ancient form of worship that was brought by travelers from Kosti in Eastern Thrace and adapted to Christian beliefs. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: slaveamanuensis - Literally "slave at hand"—for a literary assistant, especially one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts. More... ciao - Also ciau; from Italian, it is an alteration of schiavo, "(I am your) slave." More... serve - From Latin servire, "serve," from servus, "slave." More... addict - To addict originally meant "to award as a slave"; an addict now is a slave to his/her habit, from Latin addictus, which, in Roman law, meant "a debtor awarded as a slave to his creditor." More... | |