Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, June 22, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Predicate Pronouns and CaseWe commonly use personal pronouns in the possessive case predicatively. When pronouns that are not possessive are used predicatively, the conventional rule is to put them in the subjective case rather than the objective case. What is the only thing that pronouns in the objective case should be used as? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 LilithLikely derived from the Assyrian storm demon Lilitu, Lilith is a female demon of Jewish mythology. In rabbinic literature, she is acknowledged as either Adam's first wife or the mother of his demonic offspring after he separated from Eve outside of Eden. Talmudic sources describe Lilith as a nocturnal creature with many evil attributes, while Jewish folklore paints her as the incarnation of sensual lust and a vampire-like child-killer. What item is said to protect newborn boys from Lilith? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Kodak Announces Discontinuation of Kodachrome Film (2009)Manufactured by Kodak from 1935 to 2009, Kodachrome was the first commercially successful color film and was used to capture some of the most iconic images of the late 20th century. The film was known for its stability—if stored properly, it could be developed decades after being exposed and would retain its color and density for decades. Yet, advances in digital photography and the development of competing films considerably reduced demand. What famous images were recorded on Kodachrome? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. (1903)Raised in Indiana by a widowed father, Dillinger served a prison term for attempted robbery, then organized a gang and terrorized the Midwest in 1933. He became one of the most notorious criminals in the US. The infamous bank robber escaped jail twice, was involved in 16 killings, and was declared "public enemy number one" before being killed on a Chicago street by FBI agents at the age of 31. He was so well-known that at the scene of his death, bystanders collected what macabre souvenirs? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts—just mere thoughts—are as powerful as electric batteries—as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison.Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be not in Kansas anymore— To no longer be in a place that one knows or where one is comfortable; to be in a completely unfamiliar and/or discomfiting environment. A reference to The Wizard of Oz, in which Dorothy, upon arriving to Oz, says, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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_-_geograph.org.uk_-_60497.jpg) Bawming the Thorn Day (2019)This is the day on which people in Appleton, Cheshire, England, celebrate the centuries-old tradition of bawming the thorn, or decorating the hawthorn tree that stands in the center of their town. Children dance around the tree after draping its branches with flowers, flags, and ribbons. According to local legend, the original hawthorn tree was planted there in 1125 by a returning crusader. It was thought to have been a cutting from the hawthorn allegedly planted in Glastonbury, England, by Joseph of Arimathea, who buried Jesus after his crucifixion. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: voteco-opt - "To select (someone) for a group or club by a vote of members," it is from Latin cooptare, "to choose as a colleague or member of one's tribe"; its sense of "take over" came by 1953. More... ostracism - In ancient Greece, when it was proposed that a person be sent into exile, a vote was taken and the method of registering the vote involved putting the name on a piece of broken pottery called ostrakon; casting the vote was ostrakizein, giving us English ostracism. More... red state, blue state - A red state is any U.S. state that tends to vote for candidates of the Republican party in a general election; a blue state votes for Democratic candidates. More... chirotonize - To elect by voting or to vote. More... | |