Daily Content Archive as of Sunday, November 15, 2015
(as of Sunday, November 15, 2015)
Definition: (adjective) Being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course.
Synonyms: roundabout
Usage: He prided himself on his sense of direction, so Jane refrained from mentioning that the route he had chosen was circuitous and unnecessarily long.
Constructing Conditional Verbs
Conditional verbs are constructions of verbs that are used in conditional sentences. Such verbs are typically formed when a clause in the sentence contains the word "if," and the action of the sentence depends on the condition established by this clause. What type of verb is often used to help indicate the tense and intention of the verbs in the conditional or resulting clause(s)? More...
A satellite radio is a digital radio that receives signals broadcast by communications satellites. Since satellite radio operates wherever there is line of sight between the antenna and satellite, the signal spans a much wider geographical range than terrestrial radio. Satellite radio service is subscription-based and can only be accessed through specialized receivers. How many satellites are generally needed to provide service to an entire continent?	More...
Cornerstone of Jefferson Memorial Is Laid (1939)
The construction of the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, was authorized by Congress in 1934. In 1939, US President Franklin Roosevelt presided over a ceremony during which the cornerstone of the monument was laid. Completed and dedicated in 1943, the white marble building, designed by John Russell Pope, is a circular structure with a domed ceiling, surrounded by 26 columns. Inside is a bronze statue of Jefferson. Why was a temporary plaster statue initially erected there?	More...
Felix Frankfurter (1882)
Frankfurter was a US Supreme Court justice and presidential adviser. He served as secretary of war under President William H. Taft, advised President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt on many New Deal programs. In 1939, Roosevelt named him to the Supreme Court, where he served until 1962. In 1920, Frankfurter helped found the American Civil Liberties Union and argued in favor of what infamous pair of defendants?	More...
Of all lies, art is the least untrue.
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
— Any inadvertent verbal or written mistake that reveals, or can be construed as revealing, an unconscious or repressed intention, belief, thought, attitude, etc. Named for the Sigmund Freud, considered the founding father of psychoanalysis, whose work largely focused on the unconscious and repressed elements of the human psyche. More...
Feast Day of the German-Speaking Community (2016)
Each of the autonomous regions of Belgium observes its own feast day. This day is an occasion for German speakers to celebrate their ethnic heritage and political autonomy. To mark the occasion, regional flags are hung from public buildings in the German-speaking region as well as at locations outside the region with affiliations to the German-speaking community. This holiday falls on the same date as the King's Birthday, a celebration of Leopold I (1790–1865) that has special relevance for the community.	More...
Today's topic: slope
escarpment, scarp, palisade(s) - A cliff formation or line of cliffs can be called an escarpment, scarp (from Italian scarpa, "slope"), or palisade(s). More...
scree - A mass of small loose stones that form or cover a slope on a mountain. More...
katabatic - Skiing is a katabatic sport—moving down a slope or valley. More...
scarp - To slope, cut a steep face. More...