Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, June 7, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
paroxysm
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Forming Interrogative SentencesWhen we make sentences into questions, we almost always use auxiliary verbs that are inverted with the subject. This is known as subject-verb inversion. We can also use "question words" to ask more nuanced questions, but we still use auxiliary verbs and subject-verb inversion. What are some examples of question words? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The Irrawaddy RiverThe Irrawaddy, or Ayeyarwady, is Myanmar's longest river and its most important commercial waterway. For many centuries, it was Myanmar's principal communication route. The 1,000-mile (1,600-km) river bisects the country from north to south and empties into the Indian Ocean through a vast, nine-armed delta, which is one of the world's great rice-producing regions. The Ayeyarwady lends its name to what animal found in its waters? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)The Treaty of Tordesillas divided newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal along an agreed-upon meridian approximately halfway between the Cape Verde Islands belonging to Portugal and Cuba and Hispaniola, claimed for Spain by Columbus. The Europeans had actually seen very little of the lands within the territory they were dividing, and the result was that Spain gained most of the Americas while Portugal gained Brazil. What nation invoked the treaty in the 20th century? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (1778)Brummell was an English dandy and wit who was greatly admired for his fastidious appearance and confident manner. The leader of English fashion of his time, he influenced men of society to wear dark, simply cut clothes, elaborate neckwear, and trousers rather than breeches. After a quarrel with his friend Prince George of Wales, later King George IV, and deeply in debt from gambling, Brummell fled to France, where he lived for 14 years in poverty and squalor. What killed him? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 Now, here you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
insofar as— To such an extent that; to the degree that. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Malta Sette Giugno (2024)Under British rule, the Maltese Islands helped the Allies during World War I. Although the war brought jobs to the country, many Maltese found it hard to make ends meet. These factors and others prompted riots in Valletta on June 7, 1919. During the riots, four Maltese were killed by British troops. This tragic event became known as the Sette Giugno Riots. Every year on June 7, Malta holds a commemorative ceremony in Valletta. The commemorative celebration includes marches and the playing of the national anthem, "L-Innu Malti," as well as a moment of silence in memory of the four fallen men. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: horrorhorrible, horror, horrid - Horrible, horror, and horrid are from Latin horrere, "stand on end" (hair) or "tremble, shudder," and the original sense of horrid was "bristly, shaggy, rough." More... horrific, horrendous, horrible, horrid - In decreasing degree of horror: horrific, horrendous, horrible, horrid. More... pant - The shock that makes you "gasp" is behind the word pant, from Latin phantasiare, "gasp in horror." More... terror, horror - Terror is stronger than horror, though it usually lasts for a shorter time. More... | |