Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, January 25, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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begrudge
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Present Simple TenseThe present simple tense (also called the simple present tense) is used when we speak about habits, general facts, and timetables. Why is it called the present "simple"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Moscow TrialsDuring the Soviet Union's Great Purge in the 1930s, a series of show trials were conducted to eliminate the potential rivals and critics of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Accused of conspiring to remove Stalin from power, many prominent Bolsheviks were found guilty on the basis of confessions that had either been obtained through torture or had been fabricated. They were then imprisoned or executed. At one trial, the defendants "confessed" in exchange for what promise that Stalin later broke? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Grand Rapids, Michigan, Becomes First US City to Fluoridate Its Water (1945)Around 1901, dentist Frederick McKay began to research why many Colorado residents' teeth were stained brown yet were also cavity-free. The culprit, as it turned out, was fluoride. Though it can discolor teeth in large doses, fluoride also prevents decay. Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first US city to experiment with adding fluoride to its water supply. The rate of cavities plummeted, and fluoridation became a national health policy. What do conspiracy theorists allege about fluoridation? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Anne of Brittany (1477)Upon her father's death in 1488, Anne became the sovereign duchess of Brittany—and her hand in marriage became very valuable. When she was forced to become queen of France by marrying Charles VIII at age 14, her marriage contract stipulated that whichever spouse survived the longest could keep Brittany. Charles died first, but Anne was then forced to marry his successor. Until her death, she fought in vain to preserve Brittany's autonomy within France. Who was technically her first husband? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I at least have so much to do in unraveling certain human lots, and seeing how they were woven and interwoven, that all the light I can command must be concentrated on this particular web, and not dispersed over that tempting range of relevancies called the universe.George Eliot (1819-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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without letup— Without slowing down or stopping. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Burns Night (2024)Burns Night is the anniversary of the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns. The day is celebrated not only in Scotland but also in Newfoundland, and wherever there are devotees of this lusty poet. The celebrations generally take the form of recitations of Burns's poetry, the imbibing of quantities of single-malt Scotch whiskey, and the serving of haggis, a Scottish dish made of a sheep's or calf's innards (liver, heart, etc.) boiled in its stomach. At the point of the carving of the haggis, it is traditional to recite "To a Haggis," with its line, "Great chieftain o' the pudding race!" More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: saladcorn salad - A name given to several species of annual herbs sometimes used for salad. More... fruit cocktail, fruit cup, fruit salad - Fruit cocktail (1922) is a mixture of sliced or diced fruits, and it is synonymous with fruit cup (1931); fruit salad (1861) is a salad composed of fruits. More... salad days - Those when one is green in judgment, young and inexperienced. More... salad - A shortened version of Latin herba salata, "salted vegetables," from Latin sal, "salt." More... | |