Daily Content Archive

(as of Sunday, March 31, 2024)
Word of the Day

wraith

Definition:(noun) Something shadowy and insubstantial.
Synonyms:ghost, specter, spook, shade
Usage: He refused to venture near cemeteries, fearing he'd encounter wraiths, ghosts, and apparitions of all kinds.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Factitive Verbs vs. Causative Verbs

Causative verbs tie a subject to other parts of the sentence that reveal more about the subject. In this way, they serve a similar function to factitive verbs. How do the two types of verbs differ? More...
Article of the Day

The Plague Riot

In the spring of 1771, an outbreak of bubonic plague swept through Moscow. Authorities instituted a number of policies in an attempt to contain the epidemic, but the severe measures were unpopular with the general public. Factories and stores were shut down, and the economy was essentially at a standstill. Fearful, and faced with acute food shortages, the people took to the streets in an uprising that would later be known as the Plague Riot. What was done to the bell that mobilized the rioters? More...
This Day in History

The Alhambra Decree Is Issued (1492)

Fourteen years after Ferdinand II and Isabella I, the "Catholic Monarchs" of Spain, established the Spanish Inquisition to discover and punish converted Jews—and later Muslims—who were insincere, they issued the Alhambra Decree, an edict ordering the expulsion of all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. Any Jew who did not convert or leave by the deadline faced execution. Non-Jews found sheltering or hiding Jews had all of their belongings seized. When was the edict officially revoked? More...
Today's Birthday

Joseph Haydn (1732)

The principal shaper of the Classical style, Haydn was an Austrian composer who exerted major influence on his contemporaries, including Mozart, and future composers. The first great symphonist, he composed 106 symphonies and virtually invented the string quartet. By his later years, he was recognized internationally as the greatest living composer. He composed important works in almost every genre. What legendary composer was a student of Haydn? More...
Quotation of the Day
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Idiom of the Day

in full gear

At the highest or maximum level of function, operation, or performance. More...
Today's Holiday

Malta Freedom Day (2024)

In 1814, Malta became a crown colony of the British empire. Although Malta gained independence in 1964, the British armed forces did not completely leave until March 31, 1979. This freed Malta of foreign military occupation for the first time in history. In Malta, Freedom Day is a public holiday that commemorates the day the last of the British military left the Maltese Islands. On this holiday, a ceremony is held at the War Memorial in Floriana. The main events of the day take place around the Freedom Day Monument in Vittoriosa. In the afternoon, a competitive regatta is held in Grand Harbour. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: hire

freelance - Comes from the knights whose lances were free for hire and who were not pledged to one master; originally, a freelance was a free companion or a person free of occupational or political party obligation or allegiance. More...

hire - As a noun, it originally meant the payment for the use of something. More...

claque - A group of people hired to applaud an act or performer. More...

dry lease, wet lease - To rent an aircraft without a crew is a dry lease; a wet lease is to hire an aircraft with a crew. More...

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