Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, July 1, 2025)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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empty-handed
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Subordinating ConjunctionsA subordinating conjunction does two things: it introduces and subordinates the dependent clause (telling the reader that it's less important than the independent clause), and it explains what relationship it has to the independent clause. When we use subordinating conjunctions to join two clauses, does it matter which clause comes first? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 World War I Poison GasThe use of poison gases—ranging from disabling chemicals like tear gas and mustard gas to lethal agents like phosgene—was a military innovation put into use during WWI that had a major impact on warfare. Although the killing capacity of gas was limited—only 4% of combat deaths were due to gas—the proportion of non-fatal casualties was high, and gas remained one of the soldiers' greatest fears. What were some of the early, crude countermeasures developed to defend against the use of poison gases? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Sony Introduces the Walkman (1979)Sony's first truly portable cassette player, the Walkman, was originally developed for a company chairman who wanted to be able to listen to music on long plane rides. He was impressed, and less than a year later, the revolutionary device hit the market. Sales soon exploded, cementing the Walkman's place in pop culture. It remained popular throughout the 1990s, before CDs and mp3s supplanted cassettes. Who invented the portable personal stereo cassette player years before the Walkman's debut? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646)Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician who greatly expanded the field of calculus. He also perfected the binary number system—the basis for modern computing—and constructed one of the first practical calculators. A jack-of-all-trades, Leibniz worked on mechanical devices, delved into the study of logic, was a historian and lawyer at times, and is considered one of the fathers of geology. In the early 1700s, he became embroiled in a controversy with Isaac Newton over what issue? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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on Carey Street— euphemism Bankrupt; in severe or crippling debt. Named for the street in London where the bankruptcy court for the United Kingdom was at one time located. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Ghana Republic Day (2025)Ghana's Republic Day celebration is one of the most striking in West Africa, due to the fact that the popular attire includes the brightly colored cloth known as the kenti. Men wear it draped over one shoulder and around the waist, while women may wear it as a long skirt. July 1 is the day on which Ghana became an independent republic in 1960. The people also celebrate March 6 as Independence Day—the day in 1957 when British rule ended and Ghana became the first state in the British Commonwealth to be governed by black Africans. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: thighham, hamstring - Originally, the part of the leg behind the knee was called the ham, and then the tendon near the ham was the hamstring; by extension, the ham became the thigh and buttock together. More... haunch - The buttock and thigh together. More... hockshin, gambrel - The underside of the thigh is the hockshin or gambrel. More... thigh - Etymologically, the "plump" part of the leg, from an Indo-European base meaning "swell" or "fat." More... | |