Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, May 31, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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clerisy
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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"Could" and Rhetorical Questions"Could" is sometimes used informally in sarcastic or rhetorical questions that highlight a behavior someone finds irritating, unacceptable, or inappropriate. In these situations, "could" is often (but not always) used with what as a main verb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Abdus SalamSalam was a Pakistani theoretical physicist who helped develop the electroweak theory explaining the relationship between electromagnetic and weak forces. For this work, he shared a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979. He was the first Pakistani and the first Muslim scientist to be so honored. To support physicists from developing countries, he founded the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in 1964. He died in England and was brought back to Pakistan for burial. Who defaced his grave? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Copyright Act of 1790 Signed into US Law (1790)After the US Constitution was ratified in 1788, one of the first issues that the fledgling government faced was the lack of a copyright law. Without it, Congress would be swamped with individual petitions for protection from piracy. Modeled on Britain's Statute of Anne, the Copyright Act of 1790 was soon signed into law by President Washington. Instituted to encourage learning by securing US authors the sole rights to their work for 14-year periods, it drew what complaint from Charles Dickens? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443)Beaufort was an English noblewoman, wife of Edmund Tudor, and the mother of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor Dynasty. She gave birth to Henry at 13, shortly after being widowed, and developed a close bond with her only child. Renowned for her philanthropy, she endowed professorships of divinity at Oxford and Cambridge and with the help of her confessor, John Fisher, founded Christ's College and St. John's College, Cambridge. She later acted as regent for Henry VIII. How many times did she marry? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible.Jane Austen (1775-1817) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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miss the mark— To be slightly or somewhat mistaken, incorrect, or inaccurate. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival (2025)Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley is widely known for its apple orchards, which begin to flower in late May or early June. The area's Apple Blossom Festival is a five-day celebration whose events are held throughout the 60 towns and villages of the Annapolis Valley. In addition to a children's parade, sporting events, tours to view the apple blossoms, apple pie baking and eating contests, and a cooking competition, the festival includes the crowning of "Queen Annapolisa," who is chosen from among 18 local princesses. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: messaddled, muddled - Addled refers to mental confusion; muddled is anything confused or in a mess. More... dog's breakfast, dog's dinner - Meaning a mess or muddle, a dog's breakfast or dog's dinner originally may have referred to a cooking mishap with results fit only for a dog's consumption. More... higgledy-piggledy - Probably formed from pig and the animal's suggestions of mess and disorder. More... kettle of fish - Meaning "mess, muddle," the phrase is from "a pretty kettle of fish," a corruption of "kiddle of fish," in which a kiddle is a basket set in the opening of a weir for catching fish. More... | |