Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, July 29, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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purloin
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Prepositions in IdiomsMany prepositions can be used with certain words or phrases to form idioms. These prepositional idioms typically begin or end with a preposition. How can prepositional idioms function in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 ParallaxParallax is the apparent change in the position of an object resulting from a change in the position of the observer. The effect is useful in calculating the distances of stars from Earth, as stars appear to shift in relation to each other from different points in Earth's orbit. Parallax can affect the accuracy of photographers and snipers, who may see a target from an angle different than that of their instruments. What does parallax have to do with why pigeons bob their heads? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Umberto I of Italy Assassinated (1900)Son and successor of Victor Emmanuel II, Umberto I was king of Italy from 1878 until his death in 1900. Though known as "Umberto the Good," he became increasingly authoritarian and disregarded the recommendations of parliamentary leaders. His support of General Bava Beccaris, who ordered his troops to fire cannons at demonstrators protesting high bread prices, greatly enraged many citizens, including his assassin. How many attempts on his life did Umberto escape before he was killed? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Dag Hammarskjöld (1905)The only person to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize posthumously, Hammarskjöld was the second Secretary General of the United Nations. In this role, he greatly extended the influence of the United Nations and personally led peace missions, though he clashed with the Soviet Union for his vigorous attempts to diffuse civil strife in the newly independent Congo. He served as Secretary General until his death in a mysterious plane crash in 1961. What conspiracy theories surround his death? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Belladonna, n.: In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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wide berth— A good distance (between things, people, etc.). Originally referred to ships. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Olav's Day (2022)St. Olav is the patron saint of Norway, and the anniversary of his death is still marked by religious services, fireworks, and public merry-making. Every year the battle in which he died is reenacted during the St. Olav Festival in Trondheim. In the Faroe Islands, this is known as Olavsoka, or "St. Olav's Wake," a national holiday. Parliament opens on the 29th, but the festivities—which include dancing, sports events, speeches, drinking, and a parade of members of Logting (parliament)—begin the night before and continue into the early hours of the 30th. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: inhabitantinfernal - An inhabitant of the underworld can be called an infernal. More... sherpa - Literally means "inhabitant of an eastern country." More... aborigine - From Classical Latin meaning "ancestors," it was spelled with a capital A as the name of the primeval Romans; the first people called aborigines were the original inhabitants of Italy and Greece and aborigine was specifically applied to the inhabitants of a country ab origine, "from the beginning." More... sylvans - Natives or inhabitants of forests or woods. More... | |