Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, January 13, 2025)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
tangential
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
Aspects of the Future TenseWe use different aspects with verbs in the future tense to describe exactly how an event is structured in relation to a future point in time. The future continuous and future perfect continuous are typically only used with what type of verb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 VaudevilleBefore the dawn of movies, vaudeville shows packed US theaters. Following the format of beer hall variety shows, each vaudeville performance had 10–15 unrelated acts that could include anything from acrobats to opera singers. Vaudeville emerged in the early 1880s as former circus performer Tony Pastor cleaned up variety shows. He banned the sale of liquor and eliminated the cruder acts, and his success prompted other managers to do the same. What did Pastor give to vaudeville show attendees? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Survivor of British Retreat from Kabul Reaches Jalalabad (1842)During the First Anglo-Afghan War, a group of 4,500 British soldiers and 12,000 British civilians left Kabul for Jalalabad. Beset by murderous bands, their numbers quickly dwindled. A few were captured alive and later released, but army surgeon William Brydon was the sole person to escape the final ambush by Afghan tribesman and reach the British camp at Jalalabad that day. Part of Brydon's skull had been sheared off by a sword, but he survived thanks to what object stuffed inside his hat? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832)Alger was an American author who wrote more than 100 children's books. Highly formulaic, each taught that through honesty, perseverance, and hard work, poor but virtuous lads could prevail in life. Published in 1868, the first of those books, Ragged Dick, was an immediate success. Despite the weaknesses of Alger's writing, his books ultimately sold more than 20 million copies, making him one of the most popular writers of the 19th century. What ended Alger's previous career as a minister? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 You … know full well as I do the value of sisters' affections to each other: There is nothing like it in this world.Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
Were you born in a tent?— Have you no basic manners? (Usually said after someone has left open a door to the outside.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Silvesterklausen (Old Silvester Day) (2025)The custom known as Silvesterklausen in the town of Urnäsch, Appenzell Outer Rhoden, Switzerland, is performed both on December 31, New Silvester Day (St. Sylvester's Day), and on January 13, or Old Silvester Day (reflecting the change from the Julian, or Old Style, calendar to the Gregorian, or New Style, calendar in 1582). The men of the village, wearing masks, costumes, and heavy harnesses with bells, traditionally walk in groups from house to house singing wordless yodels. The friends and neighbors who receive them offer them a drink before they move on to the next house. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: vegetablerareripe - Originally simply a fruit or vegetable that ripened early. More... fruit, vegetable - Fruit is the name given to those plants that have an ovary used for food; vegetable is the name given to a large category of herbaceous plants with parts used for food. More... sauerbraten, sauerkraut - In German, sauerbraten is literally "sour roast meat," and sauerkraut is "sour cabbage or vegetable." More... sweet potato, yam - The sweet potatoes and yams sold in most stores are the same vegetable—sweet potatoes are inside every mislabeled yam can; true yams are not sold anywhere except a handful of specialty grocers. More... | |