Hawaiian crows, a species extinct in the wild, have demonstrated a remarkable skill that’s exceptionally rare in the animal kingdom: the ability to use tools. The discovery, described in Nature, means there are now two species of crow that are known to … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders in 1099 during the First Crusade and served as the capital of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem for most of the 12th century, but it was besieged and captured by Saladin, the Kurdish Muslim warrior and Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, after his decisive victory at Hattin in 1187. The Crusaders negotiated a surrender, and the two parties agreed to a peaceful handover of the city to Saladin, preventing the sort of massacre that had occurred when? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The first Oktoberfest was held on October 12, 1810, in honor of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Saxony-Hildburghausen. Since that time it has become, above all else, a celebration of German beer. The Lord Mayor of Munich, Germany, opens the first barrel, and the 16-day festival begins. Both citizens and tourists flock to this event, which is marked by folk costume parades in which brewery horses draw floats and decorated beer wagons through the streets. Oktoberfest celebrations are also held in cities throughout the United States. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Dewar was a British chemist and physicist best known for his work on the properties of matter at very low temperatures and the liquefaction of gases. In the course of his work, he liquefied and solidified hydrogen and invented the Dewar flask. Used for storing liquefied gases, his Dewar flask—a double-walled flask with an insulating vacuum between the inner and outer walls—became essential in low-temperature scientific work. What everyday item was patterned after Dewar’s flask? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Humans are the only creatures to use a form of communication that scholars consider “language”—a system of spoken sounds or conventional symbols that communicates thought. Although some animals display similar social behavior, linguists are reluctant to term it language, instead describing it as “animal communication.” Still, some animals have been taught certain features of human language. Why are most animal languages considered “closed”? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) Excessive desire, especially for wealth.
Synonyms: covetousness, avarice.
Usage: Their very cupidity was to prove the means of their undoing, in the matter of the ransom at least.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Scientists guided by small structures preserved in fossilized skin have deciphered the color and camouflage pattern of a little dinosaur with a parrot-like beak and bristles on its tail that roamed thick forests in China about 120 million years … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
In one of America’s most notorious crimes, the infant son of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh was kidnapped in 1932. Although a ransom of $50,000 for his release was paid, the child’s body was found murdered. Two years later, Hauptmann was found with part of the ransom. In a sensational trial, he was convicted of murder. Hauptmann maintained his innocence to the last, and although temporarily reprieved, he was executed in 1936. Why do some doubt his guilt? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Keiro-no-Hi is a national holiday in Japan set aside as a day to honor the elderly. At community centers, entertainments are held and the guests are given small keepsakes and gifts of food—for example, rice cakes dyed red and white, the traditional Japanese colors of happiness. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Elliot was an American singer and member of the vocal group The Mamas & the Papas. After the group broke up, she had a successful solo career, releasing several studio albums. In 1974, after a series of performances at the London Palladium, Elliot was found dead in an apartment loaned to her by singer Harry Nilsson—the same apartment where drummer Keith Moon died four years later. Although Elliot died from a heart attack, an often repeated urban myth states that she died by choking on what? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary