NASA’s Kepler space telescope has spotted four possibly rocky alien planets orbiting the same star, and two of these newfound worlds might be capable of supporting life. The four exoplanets circle a red dwarf — a star smaller and dimmer than the sun—called … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
As commander of Apollo 11, Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the Moon. With hundreds of millions watching a broadcast of his history-making moonwalk, he uttered the now famous line, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” Buzz Aldrin followed, and the two astronauts proceeded to set up scientific equipment, conduct experiments, and collect samples from the lunar surface. What other spacecraft landed on the moon while Apollo 11 was still there? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
This public holiday, also known as the Belgium National Day, commemorates Belgium’s independence from the Netherlands on July 21, 1831. Belgians had struggled against their rulers for 15 years. A revolt began in 1830, and, the next year, the state of Belgium was formed and King Leopold I (1790-1865) was made its first king. Belgians sing “La Brabançonne,” the national anthem, and observe their independence with festivities, especially in the capital city of Brussels. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Reuter, founder of the Reuters news agency, was a pioneer of telegraphy and news reporting. In 1849, he started a post service to bridge the gap in a telegraph line between Germany and Belgium. He soon moved to England and opened a telegraph office serving banks, brokerages, and businesses. He steadily extended his commercial news service, acquiring his first subscribing newspaper client in 1858. Undersea cables enabled him to expand the service. What animal was used to deliver messages in 1849? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Kefir is a fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus region of Eurasia and is prepared by inoculating cow, goat, or sheep’s milk with kefir grains, a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars. Traditional kefir was made in skin bags that were hung near a doorway and knocked by everyone passing through to help keep the milk and kefir grains mixed. Today, kefir is popular due to research into its health benefits. What are these benefits? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) A mark ( ¨ ) placed over the second of two adjacent vowels to indicate that they are to be pronounced as separate sounds rather than a diphthong, as in naïve.
Synonyms: umlaut.
Usage: The presence of a dieresis might indicate that a word originated in a foreign language.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
Could Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak be one step closer to becoming a reality? A research team from Queen Mary University of London’s School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science says it has demonstrated a cloaking device that could make … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Abdullah I was the king of Jordan from 1946 until his death. With Britain’s support, he led Arab revolts against Turkish rule in WWI and, after the Ottoman Empire’s collapse, became emir of the British mandate of Transjordan in 1921. When the mandate ended, he became king of the renamed Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In 1948, he attacked the newly established state of Israel, annexing the portions of Palestine now known as the West Bank. In 1951, he was assassinated in Jerusalem by whom? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Considered to be among the greatest of prophets, Elijah is commemorated on this day in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. An Old Testament Jew who is revered by Jews and Muslims as well, Elijah’s story appears in the first book of Kings, with the final episode appearing in Second Kings, chapter two. The highpoint of Elijah’s ministry occurred when he called the priests who worshipped Baal, the pagan fertility god, to the top of Mount Carmel and challenged them to a contest that would prove who was the true God. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The “Father of Humanism,” Petrarch was the greatest scholar of his age. He traveled widely, visiting fellow scholars and searching out manuscripts, and wrote numerous lyrics, sonnets, and canzoni. His awareness of the classical past as a source of literary and philosophical meaning for the present left a lasting influence on European literature and paved the way for the Renaissance. Many of Petrarch’s poems are devoted to what woman, who awoke a lasting passion in him on Good Friday in 1327? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary