About three years ago, a high-pitched “eeeeeeeee” sound started ringing in Linda Gray’s ears. Sometimes, the ring would suddenly turn into a roar, sending Gray into panic mode. Her heart would speed up. She’d try to find a quiet room. “You’re trying to … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Battle of Edgecote Moor was an important turning point in the series of dynastic civil wars for the English throne known as the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485). The battle pitted the forces of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, against those of King Edward IV. Warwick had once been loyal to Edward and had even helped put him on the throne, but Edward began to resent him and suppress his influence. Angered, Warwick allied with Edward’s brother, George, and rose in rebellion. Who won the battle? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
A bicycle ride (not race) across the state of Iowa, RAGBRAI is billed as the oldest, longest, and largest bicycle-touring event in the nation. The sponsor from the start has been the Des Moines Register, and RAGBRAI stands for Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. The field is limited, and participants are chosen through a drawing. The ride began in 1973 and was intended as a one-time event, but interest was such that it continued the next year, and the next, when it got the RAGBRAI name. The route is different each year but always runs from west to east. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of analytical psychology. Early in his career, he worked with psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, who studied and named “schizophrenia.” Jung wrote a book on the illness, which led to a meeting with Sigmund Freud, and the two formed a close relationship for a number of years. However, Jung’s criticism of Freud’s emphasis on the sexual basis of neuroses ended their collaboration, and a formal break came when Jung published what revolutionary book? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
First appearing in the late 19th c. but particularly prevalent after WWII, when many Pacific Islanders witnessed airdrops of supplies, cargo cults are the unorthodox religious movements that appeared in tribal societies after interaction with Westerners. Believing fallen cargo came from divine spirits who would send more upon seeing rituals based on the foreigners’ behavior, the tribes built straw airplanes, radios made of coconuts, and other pseudo-Western items. Do any cargo cults exist today? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment.
Synonyms: bewildered, confounded, baffled, mixed-up, bemused, lost.
Usage: The audience was befuddled by the speaker's contradictory statements.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The picturesque island of Mona sits isolated between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea. It has no human settlements and is devoid of human life except for Puerto Rican wildlife managers, conservationists and the odd researcher. But … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Savitskaya is a former Soviet female aviator and cosmonaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space some 19 years after Valentina Tereshkova. She logged nearly 20 days in space during her career, including three and a half hours spent outside the Salyut 7 space station in 1984, when she became the first woman to perform a spacewalk. Before becoming a cosmonaut, she was a test and sport pilot and a parachutist. What world records did she set? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Puerto Rico Constitution Day is the anniversary of the day on which Puerto Rico changed from a territory to a commonwealth and adopted its new constitution in 1952. Sometimes referred to as Commonwealth Day, July 25 is a legal holiday throughout the island. It is celebrated with parades, speeches, fireworks, and parties. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Brown was the first baby to be conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure used to overcome infertility in which a woman’s eggs are removed, fertilized with sperm outside the body, and then inserted into the uterus. Now a commonplace procedure, IVF was developed in the 1970s by British medical researchers Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards and was subject to much criticism before Brown’s birth. Who was the first woman conceived through IVF to give birth naturally to a baby of her own? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary