Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, January 31, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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soi-disant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Future Perfect TenseWe use the future perfect tense to say that something will finish or be completed at a specific point in the future. How else can the future perfect tense be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The MistelToward the end of World War II, the German Luftwaffe introduced a new weaponry scheme that consisted of two airplanes attached to each other. Called the Mistel, it featured a crewless bomber packed full of explosives and mounted below a manned fighter plane. The fighter would drop or steer the entire bomber onto a target, then return alone. It was largely ineffective. In one instance, Mistel pilots who claimed to have made a successful hit may have actually done what instead? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Nauru, World's Smallest Island Nation, Gains Independence (1968)Annexed by Germany in 1888, controlled by Great Britain since World War I, occupied by Japan during World War II, and administered by Australia until the late 1960s, the tiny, phosphate-rich island of Nauru flourished in the years following its independence. However, after the island exhausted its primary phosphate reserves, living conditions deteriorated. Today, it has a 90 percent unemployment rate, and much of the island is uninhabitable. What percent of Nauruan citizens are obese? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 William Charles Lunalilo (1835)The shortest-reigning monarch in Hawaiian history, Lunalilo was unanimously elected by the legislature after the death of Kamehameha V, who had declined to name an heir. Just 13 months later, the similarly heirless Lunalilo died of alcoholism and tuberculosis. His goal of a more democratic Hawaii had earned him the nickname "the People's King," and he was buried in a common cemetery rather than in the royal mausoleum. What was his reward for having composed Hawaii's first national anthem? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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yardarm to yardarm— outdated Really close together. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Nauru Independence Day (2022)This island in the Pacific Ocean gained independence from Great Britain on January 31, 1968. It had been governed by Australia. Independence Day is a national holiday in Nauru. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: remainbide one's time - Based on abide, meaning "remain" or "to wait awhile." More... marcescent - Describes leaves that wither but remain attached to the stem. More... mansion, mansionary - Mansion first meant the action of living or remaining in a place, from French manere, "remain," from Latin mansio, "staying"; mansionary is an adjective meaning "resident." More... stick-in-the-mud - Based on the notion of "to stick in the mud, to be content to remain in an abject condition." More... | |