Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, June 13, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Interjections and PunctuationAn interjection is a word, phrase, or sound used to convey an emotion such as surprise, excitement, happiness, or anger. As interjections are capable of standing alone, they can be punctuated with a period, an exclamation point, or a question mark. How do we choose which punctuation to use? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Crystal GazingAlso called crystal gazing, scrying is the magical practice of divining the past, present, or future by gazing into a usually reflective, translucent, or luminescent medium, such as crystal, mirror, water, or fire. The Cup of Jamshid, described in Persian mythology as a magical cup containing an elixir of immortality, is said to have revealed to the observer all the layers of the universe. Mirrors, meanwhile, have been said to reveal what to young women who gaze into them in a darkened room? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 US Supreme Court Rules in Miranda v. Arizona (1966)Miranda v. Arizona was a landmark US Supreme Court decision that led to the institution of the Miranda warning, a set of rights that police officers must read to arrestees. One of the petitioners in the case, Ernesto Miranda, had been convicted of rape in 1963 based on a confession he made while in police custody—without knowing he had a right to see a lawyer. He appealed, and the Supreme Court ruled in his favor. What happened when he was retried using evidence other than his confession? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Sir Basil Rathbone (1892)Rathbone was a British actor who made his film debut in the 1920s. With his distinctive voice and gaunt appearance, he was cast as a villain in several swashbuckling movies. He won praise for his roles in Romeo and Juliet and If I Were King, but he became best known for portraying Sherlock Holmes in a series of films beginning with 1939's The Hound of the Baskervilles. Why did his English family have to flee South Africa when he was just three years old? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 She might yet be able to help him to the building of the rainbow bridge that should connect the prose in us with the passion. Without it we are meaningless fragments, half monks, half beasts, unconnected arches that have never joined into a man.E. M. Forster (1879-1970) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the moral high ground— A position of moral authority or superiority that one's arguments, beliefs, ideas, etc., are claimed or purported to occupy, especially in comparison to a differing viewpoint. (Used especially in the phrase "take/claim/seize/etc. the moral high ground.") More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Gaspee Days (2022)The British revenue schooner Gaspee was sent to the American colonies to reinforce various British revenue laws, including the Townshend Acts of 1767. The colonists at Rhode Island burned the ship on June 10, 1772, in what many regard as the first act of rebellion leading up to the Revolutionary War. Since 1966 the event has been commemorated in a festival that includes a symbolic reenactment of the burning, a fife and drum muster, a colonial parade, numerous athletic events, and a gala ball, which take place in both Cranston and Warwick, Rhode Island. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: leadercoryphaeus - A Greek word meaning "chief," for the leader of a party, sect, school of thought, etc. More... herald - Etymologically, a "leader of an army," from Germanic kharjaz, "army." More... hegemon - A Greek word for "leader." More... nestorian, nestor - Nestorian means wise and aged, and a nestor is a senior figure or leader in one's field. More... | |