Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, October 9, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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habitant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Prepositions and Indirect ObjectsSome transitive verbs are able to take both direct objects and indirect objects (people or things that receive the direct object of the verb). If a verb is capable of taking an indirect object, that person or thing appears immediately after the verb and before the direct object. We can also place it after the direct object with the preposition "to," in which case it is no longer a true indirect object but what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Hobo NickelHobo nickels are sculptural artworks created on small denomination coins, particularly US nickels, long favored by coin engravers because of their size, thickness, and softness. When the Indian head, or buffalo, nickel was introduced in the US in 1913, its large, thick profile gave artists a larger template to work on and allowed for finer detail. Due to its low cost and portability, this medium was particularly popular among hobos, hence the name. What images appear on classic hobo nickels? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Phantom of the Opera Premieres in London (1986)Based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in 1986. In 2010, it celebrated its 10,000th performance at the same venue. It opened in New York in 1988, and went on to become the longest-running musical on Broadway. It is also the most financially successful entertainment project of all time, having earned billions of dollars. What is the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alfred Dreyfus (1859)In 1894, French Army intelligence discovered that military secrets were being leaked to Germany. Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French Army, was blamed and convicted—twice—on insufficient and forged evidence. He was imprisoned on Devil's Island. The affair became a national scandal amid reports that the army, permeated by anti-Semitism, had covered up evidence of his innocence. He was pardoned by the president in 1899 and cleared by a civilian court in 1906. Who was probably the real traitor? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is well known that Beauty does not look with a good grace on the timid advances of Humor.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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Potemkin village— Something that is made to seem very grand, elaborate, and/or prosperous for the purposes of impressing others, but which in reality has no real worth or substance. Taken from a story about Russian minister Grigory Potemkin (1739–1791) who allegedly erected false, painted façades to mimic a thriving, successful village along the Dnieper River in Crimea to impress the visiting Empress Catherine II. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Uganda Independence Day (2024)This national holiday commemorates Uganda's independence from Britain on this day in 1962, after 70 years of British rule. Uganda became a republic in 1963 on its one-year independence anniversary. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: trumpetkazoo, bazooka - Dutch bazu, "trumpet," gives us the words kazoo and bazooka, the latter originally being a form of kazoo that was a long sounding-horn. More... jubilee - Comes from Hebrew yobhel, "ram's horn," which was used as a trumpet to proclaim the jubilee, a year of emancipation and restoration (every 50 years). More... taratantara - The sound of a bugle or trumpet can be called taratantara. More... | |