Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, September 23, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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mesa
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Non-Restrictive Relative ClausesNon-restrictive relative clauses give us additional information about a noun that has already been identified, but this information is not essential for the sentence to make sense. What two words cannot be used to introduce non-restrictive clauses? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The HuaoraniKnown pejoratively as "Aucas," meaning "naked ones" or "savages," the Huaorani are an indigenous people of the Ecuadorian Oriente in the Amazon basin. With a population of approximately 2,000, the Huaorani speak Huao Terero, a language unrelated to any other known living language. Several Huaorani communities have rejected all contact with outsiders and move often to progressively more isolated areas. During the mid-20th c, what led them to become one of the most violent cultures ever known? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Lewis and Clark Expedition Returns (1806)In May 1804, about 40 men left St. Louis, Missouri, and headed west on an expedition initiated by US President Thomas Jefferson to search out an overland route to the Pacific Ocean, make contact with indigenous peoples, and survey the new Louisiana Purchase. More than two years later, the party returned to great acclaim. Their journey had an incalculable effect on the history of the American West. Who accompanied the explorers and helped them negotiate with the Native Americans they encountered? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 John Coltrane (1926)Coltrane was an influential American jazz saxophonist and composer. He worked with numerous big bands before emerging in the 1950s as a major stylist while playing with Miles Davis. His playing exhibited a dazzling technical brilliance as well as ardent emotion. Coltrane made a number of influential recordings, among them the 1960s classics My Favorite Things and A Love Supreme. He was deeply spiritual and interested in all religions. What church made him a saint after his death? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 One cannot fix one's eyes on the commonest natural production without finding food for a rambling fancy.Jane Austen (1775-1817) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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snow on the mountain— Silver, grey, or white hair on one's head, as due to aging. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Aizu Byakko Matsuri (2025)Aizu was once the sturdiest castle in northeast Japan, but it was destroyed in a battle between the Emperor's forces and the Shogun's forces in 1868. The Byakkotai, or White Tiger Band, young men who vowed to lay down their lives in defense of the castle, saw what they thought was fire rising from the walls. Thinking it had fallen into enemy hands, they killed themselves. Each September to commemorate their courage, there is a procession of 500 warriors and a lantern procession through Aizu Wakamatsu, where the original members of the White Tiger Band are buried. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tapfaucet - Probably comes from French fausset, meaning "bore, tap." More... tattoo - In the military sense—of a signal summoning soldiers to their quarters at night—it was originally written tap-too, from a Dutch word taptoe, meaning "close the tap" (of a cask), which was told to soldiers when they were expected to return to their quarters. More... tick, tickle - Tick, as in "sound of a clock," "mark of correctness," originally meant "light touch, tap," and its modern senses are recent developments; tickle is probably a derivative of this version of tick. More... tit for tat - Probably borrowed from Dutch tip for tap, "blow for blow." More... | |