Everybody is fascinated by icebergs. The idea that you can have blocks of frozen water the size of cities, and bigger, sparks our sense of wonder. British astronaut Tim Peake photographed one from orbit that would just about fit inside Central London’s … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Misattributed to an assistant of Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens until 2002, when an expert from Sotheby’s auction house identified it as the work of the master himself, Massacre of the Innocents is an early 17th-century painting depicting Herod’s slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem. One of two paintings Rubens made of the Biblical scene, it fetched £49.5 million ($76 million) at auction and is one of the priciest paintings ever sold. Its style is reminiscent of which Italian painter? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
An annual event since 1926, Michigan’s National Cherry Festival takes place in Traverse City, where 70 percent of the world’s red cherries are grown. The festival features both traditional and offbeat events involving cherries: cherry pie-eating and cooking contests, a cherry wine competition, displays of cherries and cherry products, free tours of the cherry orchards, a cherry smorgasbord luncheon, and the weighing-in of the world’s largest cherry. It also includes three major parades, national high school band competitions, canoe races, and a water ski tournament. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Waffles are light batter cakes cooked between two gridded hot plates that give the food its distinctive, pocketed pattern. The modern waffle has its origins in the wafers—thin, crisp cakes made from a mixture of barley and oats and baked between wafer-irons—that were popular in the Middle Ages. Today, a number of waffle varieties are enjoyed throughout the world, including Belgian, Liège, and American. What are Hong Kong-style waffles? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Immoderately desirous of wealth or gain.
Synonyms: covetous, grabby, grasping, greedy, prehensile.
Usage: The avaricious man prayed to have a room full of gold.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Researchers have described new fossils belonging to an extinct crocodile-like creature that had a set of serrated teeth like those of a T. rex. The animal was a top predator in Madagascar 170 million years ago, around the time dinosaurs roamed Earth. Its huge jaw … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
On a hot 4th of July in Washington, DC, Taylor—who had been US president for just 16 months—enjoyed a cool snack of cherries and milk. Five days later, he was dead. The official cause of death was listed as gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines that can be caused by food poisoning. His remains were exhumed in 1991 and showed no evidence of foul play. According to one historian, Taylor could have recovered had he not been bled, blistered, and given what cocktail of drugs? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Martyrdom of the Bab is a solemn commemoration of the day in 1850 when the Bab, the first prophet of the Baha’i faith, was executed in Tabriz, Persia (now Iran). Prayers and readings mark the Baha’i holy day, and work is suspended. The Bab was repeatedly exiled and imprisoned by Muslim rulers and priests who opposed the idea that the Bab would provide another avenue to the truth. A committee of priests demanded the Bab’s execution; his body was retrieved by his followers and eventually placed in a mausoleum on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, where the Baha’i headquarters is today. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Sacks is a British-American neurologist and writer. He immigrated to the US in 1960 to study neurology at the University of California, and in 1965 he joined the faculty at New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Many of his books relate case histories of neurologically damaged people, particularly those afflicted with unusual conditions. His 1973 book Awakenings, which was made into a film in 1990, chronicles his efforts to treat the survivors of what mysterious sickness? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Voynich manuscript, which likely dates to the late 15th or early 16th century, is a mysterious illustrated book written by an unknown author in an unidentified script and language. Although its meaning has eluded even expert cryptographers, giving weight to the theory that the book is simply an elaborate hoax, the text follows patterns similar to those of natural languages, and the book thus remains the subject of intense study. What are some theories about its origins and meaning? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary