Definition: (noun) A gathering, flowing, or meeting together at one juncture or point.
Synonyms: meeting.
Usage: He had long noted that the greatest disasters were rarely the result of one misfortune but were the result of a confluence of several of them.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
In 1994, Simpson, a former football star, was charged with the murder of his estranged wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. His trial was a media-saturated event that highlighted racial tensions in America and resulted in his acquittal in 1995. In 1997, a civil jury levied a $33.5 million wrongful-death award against him in a suit brought by the victims’ families. Simpson’s infamous car chase in June 1994 interrupted TV coverage of what? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Unity Day celebrates the reunification of East and West Germany that took place on October 3, 1990. In setting the date of the official reunification, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl wanted to honor the historic events of November 1989, in which the government of East Germany resigned and thousands of citizens scaled the Berlin Wall and began to demolish it, but did not want to overshadow other important November observances. German Unity Day is observed with speeches, marches, and public events, including the government’s official Unity Day celebration street festival. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
After beginning his career writing plays, Wolfe turned to novels, many of which are thinly veiled autobiographies. His writing habits, influenced by excessive drinking, were haphazard and undisciplined. In his The Story of a Novel, Wolfe describes how editor Maxwell Perkins helped him turn the chaotic manuscripts for his first two books into publishable works. Which one of Wolfe’s literary contemporaries likened his writing to “an elephant trying to do the hoochie coochie”? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Honey is the sweet, viscous fluid honeybees produce from flower nectar. Worker bees transport the nectar to the hive in their honey sac, and enzymes in the sac convert the nectar into honey. Bees produce honey in much greater amounts than they need to survive, and humans have made use of this excess honey for centuries. In addition to its uses in cooking and baking, honey has antibacterial properties and was used in ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece as a wound salve. What is honey intoxication? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) A poem similar to a rondeau, having 13 or 14 lines with two rhymes throughout. The first and second lines reappear in the middle and at the end, although sometimes only the first line appears at the end.
Synonyms: rondeau.
Usage: Her poetry club issued a new challenge every week; last week, everyone had to write a funny rondel about chewing gum.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
French occultist Jacques Toussaint Benoit’s pasilalinic-sympathetic compass was a contraption developed based on his belief that when two snails touch, they create a telepathic bond. His “snail telegraph” contained 24 snails, each associated with an individual letter of the alphabet as well as with a snail counterpart in a second device. One could theoretically transmit a message by touching the snails, eliciting reactions from their counterparts. What happened when he demonstrated his device? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
As early as the ninth century, a day was set aside to honor angels in general and the archangel Michael in particular. This was September 29, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels or Michaelmas. But some people, believing that a particular angel is assigned to watch over each human being, wanted to honor their own personal protectors or guardian angels. A feast in their honor observed in 16th-century Spain was extended to the whole church by Pope Paul V in 1608, and, in 1672, Pope Clement X set October 2 as the universal day for the festival. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The complex and controversial king of Sardinia-Piedmont from 1831 to 1849, Charles Albert helped inspire the growing drive for Italian independence. In 1848, the spread of revolutionary ideas forced him to grant a constitution. Seeking to lead the liberation of Italy, he went to war with Austria that same year, and again in 1849, but was twice defeated. After abdicating in favor of his son, he went into exile and soon died. Charles was called the “number one enemy” of what? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Stem cells are unspecialized cells that can reproduce themselves for long periods of time using cell division, but are also capable of differentiating into almost any type of specialized cell. This unique ability makes them ideal for use in regenerative medicine. Adult stem cells are derived from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow. Embryonic stem cells are also used in medical research, but their use is more controversial. Why is there an ethical debate surrounding embryonic stem cell use? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary