Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, September 9, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Creating the Subjunctive MoodOne of the most straightforward ways of using the subjunctive mood is when we want to describe a wish for something to be different than it is or was. When we express wishes, we create the subjunctive mood by moving the main verb of the sentence one tense back in the past. To convey a wish about a situation in the present, what tense would we use? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Robot JockeysCamel racing has been a popular sport in the Arab world for thousands of years, however, this "Sport of Sheiks" has recently earned condemnation from human rights groups for its almost exclusive use of child jockeys, usually boys around the age of four, who are sold to race organizers or camel owners and starved to reduce their weight. In response, nations such as Qatar have banned the use of child jockeys and replaced them with robots developed by a Swiss robotics firm. How do they work? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 9-Month-Old Mary Stuart Is Crowned "Queen of Scots" (1543)When King James V of Scotland died in 1542, his two sons had already died in infancy and his only surviving child—a daughter—was just a week old. The infant Mary Queen of Scots was crowned nine months later in an elaborate coronation at Stirling Castle, where she would spend her early years. Laden with regal robes, the tiny sovereign cried throughout the entire ceremony. Soon thereafter, King Henry VIII of England attacked Scotland in an attempt to force what to happen to Mary? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Count Leo Tolstoy (1828)Tolstoy was a Russian novelist and philosopher. Considered one of the world's greatest writers, he is perhaps most famous for his masterpieces, War and Peace, a vast prose epic of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, and Anna Karenina, about the tragedy of a woman's faith in romantic love. Tolstoy was an anarchist and disapproved of all organizations based on the premise of force, including the government and the church. How many characters are there in War and Peace? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There are two things that men should never weary of, goodness and humility; we get none too much of them in this rough world among cold, proud people.Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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scare (someone) silly— To shock or frighten someone very suddenly and/or severely. Hyperbolically alludes to frightening someone so severely as to cause them to lose their mind. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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.jpg) Democratic People's Republic of Korea Founding Day (2019)The founding of North Korea on September 9, 1948 is observed throughout the country as a national holiday. Much of the observance of North Korea's founding day centers on adulating Kim Il-Sung, the founding leader. The main public celebrations take place in the capital city, Pyongyang, and can include such events as government banquets in the late Kim's honor, political meetings, concerts, and displays of song and dance. Officials and citizens also lay flowers before the monuments to Kim in the capital. Similar displays also take place in towns and cities throughout North Korea. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sakeeristic - Means "enjoying argument for its own sake," or "of or pertaining to controversy." More... fine art, commercial artwork - Fine art is any art created for its own sake, as opposed to commercial artwork. More... heaven's sake - It is heaven's sake (not heavens' sake, heaven's sakes, etc.). More... sensuous, sensual - Sensuous usually implies gratification of the senses for the sake of aesthetic pleasure; sensual usually describes gratification of the senses or physical appetites as an end in itself. More... | |