Definition: (noun) A figure or design carved into or beneath the surface of hard metal or stone.
Synonyms: diaglyph.
Usage: The intaglio was so incredibly detailed that it almost looked like a photograph.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
After his mother, Catherine the Great, suffered a stroke, Paul I ascended to the throne. The new czar instituted a number of reforms that angered the nobility and provoked a conspiracy against him. On the night of his murder, Paul was confronted in his bedroom and pressured to sign his abdication. When he refused, the assassins struck him with a sword, strangled him, and trampled him to death. Though he did not participate in the attack, his successor knew about the plot. Who was he? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
This national holiday is also known as Republic Day, and it is the anniversary of a 1940 resolution calling for a Muslim country for Muslim Indians. On the same day in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic within the British Commonwealth. Pakistan Day is celebrated with parades and fairs. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Devoted to the pursuit of rocketry and spaceflight since his teenage years, German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was responsible for the successful development of the German V-2 rocket, thousands of which were launched against London and Antwerp during World War II’s final year. Nevertheless, at the close of the war, von Braun was brought to the US and soon became a prime figure in the cold war arms race and later in the space program. What notable American projects did he work on? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Bananas rank fourth after rice, wheat, and maize in human food consumption. They are grown in 130 countries worldwide, more than any other fruit crop. In popular culture and commerce, “banana” usually refers to the soft, sweet “dessert” bananas that are usually eaten raw. The bananas from a group of cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit, generally used in cooking rather than eaten raw, are typically known as what? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Man’s worst ill is stubbornness of heart. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) In a smooth, lyrical, flowing style.
Synonyms: singing.
Usage: The last part of the movement, a sweet, cantabile passage, resonated with the young audience.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Intended to help pay British debts from the French and Indian War, the Stamp Act established the first direct tax levied on the American colonies. It required all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers issued in the colonies to bear a tax stamp. The act was vehemently protested by the colonists, and the Stamp Act Congress—the first significant joint colonial response to any British measure—petitioned for its repeal. How did Parliament respond? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
In 1994, the town of Nuuk, Greenland, held its first snow-sculpture festival. It has since become an annual event, scheduled for the third weekend in March. It attracts contestants from all over Greenland, as well as from Canada, the US, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. Festival organizers give each team of sculptors a compressed block of snow. The teams then set to work, transforming the square blocks into an amazing variety of shapes. Their efforts are displayed in a sculpture park that is illuminated at night, creating beautiful lights and shadows on the sculptures. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Andrew Lloyd Webber is a highly successful British composer of musical theatre whose scores include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and two of the longest-running Broadway shows of all time: Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. Lloyd Webber has won multiple Tony and Grammy Awards, as well as a Golden Globe and an Oscar, and was knighted in 1992. Cats was inspired by the work of what noted modernist author? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary