Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, June 23, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Making Infinitives NegativeTo make an infinitive or infinitive phrase negative, we use the word "not" before the infinitive. We can also put greater emphasis on "not" by placing it after "to." This creates what is known as a "split infinitive"—an infinitive that has an adverb between "to" and the base form of the verb. Is it ever acceptable to use split infinitives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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| This Day in History | |
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 Edgardo Mortara Kidnapped from Jewish Family after Secret Baptism (1858)Mortara, the son of a Jewish couple living in the Papal States, was secretly baptized Catholic as an infant by a panicked servant during an infantile illness. The baptism was deemed valid by the Catholic Church and, because canon law forbade non-Christians from raising Christian children, Pope Pius IX ordered the six-year-old Mortara to be taken to Rome as his ward. Several countries objected to the pope's decision and called for the boy to be returned to his parents. What became of Mortara? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Wilma Glodean Rudolph (1940)Rudolph was the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field in a single Olympic Games. She accomplished this despite having contracted numerous serious illnesses as a child, including polio, which damaged her leg and required her to wear a brace for some time. At the 1960 Games, she won gold in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and as part of the 4x100 meter relay. She finished the 100-meter dash in world-record time but was not credited with the record. Why? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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| Idiom of the Day | |
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be not worth a brass farthing— To be completely worthless or useless; to have little or no value. Refers to farthings (obsolete British units of currency, worth one-quarter of a penny), formerly made from a copper alloy (brass). Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Stonehenge Summer Solstice Ceremony (2025)Stonehenge, the ancient stone circle located in Wiltshire, England, is believed to have been built between about 3050 and 1600 BCE. At the Summer Solstice, when viewed from the center of the monument, the sun rises through the entrance and just between two of the large stones. Today, modern Druids and other Neopagans gather at Stonehenge for Summer Solstice ceremonies. Wearing white robes and scarlet hoods, when the first rays of the rising sun shine on the Altar Stone, they walk in procession around the circle, gathering at the Altar Stone to recite prayers and salute the rising sun. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: herdcutting horse - One trained to cut cattle out of a herd. More... pointer, point man - A pointer or point man was first a cowboy riding at the front of a herd of cattle. More... egregious - First meant "remarkably good" and "standing out or apart from the flock or herd; eminent"; its later derogatory sense is probably an ironical use. More... herd - As a verb, it first meant "keep safe, shelter." More... | |