Definition: (noun) A position some distance below the top of a mast to which a flag is lowered in mourning or to signal distress.
Synonyms: half-mast.
Usage: Out of respect for the fallen police officer, all government buildings flew their flags at half-staff for a week.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Remember the days when people would bring photos of celebrities to the plastic surgeon’s office and ask for Angelina Jolie’s lips or Brad Pitt’s jawline? That’s not the case anymore. Now, people want to look like themselves – heavily edited or filtered … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The European heat wave of 2003 resulted in the deaths of more than 40,000 people. In France, where summers are usually very mild and many homes do not have air conditioning, nearly 15,000 people died from heat-related issues—at a time when many physicians were on summer holiday. So many died that undertakers ran out of room in their own facilities and had to keep corpses in off-site warehouses. The UK, meanwhile, suffered through violent storms and experienced what record high temperature? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
A traditional gathering that dates back hundreds of years, Puck Fair is a three-day event held in Killorglin in County Kerry, Ireland. A large male goat is decorated with ribbons and paraded through the streets on the first day, which is known as Gathering Day. The goat, known as King Puck, presides over the fair from his “throne,” an enclosure on a three-story platform in the town square. The main event of the second day, known as Puck’s Fair Day, is a livestock show. On the third day, known as Scattering Day, King Puck is led out of town to the accompaniment of traditional Irish music. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Few people in recent history have transformed popular music—rock and roll in particular—the way Leo Fender did. A self-taught radio repairman, Fender began inventing electronic instruments in the 1940s and is responsible for the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, the first widely used electric bass, and many other revolutionary instruments. His Fender Musical Instruments Corporation remains a leading manufacturer of instruments and amplifiers. Which famous bassists favor Fender? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The use of crowns as symbols of royal rank is an ancient tradition that dates back to Achaemenid Persia and Pharaonic Egypt. Crowns in ancient Greece and Rome—wreaths of leaves or ribbons—were awarded to victors of contests or bestowed upon citizens to recognize acts of public service. In medieval and more modern times, crowns were generally made of metal, often gold inlaid with precious gems. According to legend, what ruler surprised the pope by crowning himself during a coronation ceremony? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (verb) Live longer than.
Synonyms: outlive, survive.
Usage: Naturally dried flowers will outlast a bouquet of fresh blooms.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The moon and the word “astrobiology” don’t often appear in the same sentence—even with a handful of government space agencies and private corporations planning crewed forays to the lunar surface for the first time since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972. That … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
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Although no working model of his design was ever built, Ames is credited with patenting the first escalator. His idea for the “revolving stairs” was largely speculative. It was not until the 1890s that the first working escalator—called the “inclined elevator”—was produced, based on another’s designs. It was installed among the amusements at New York’s Coney Island but did not remain a novelty for long. How did shoppers react when Harrods in London debuted its first escalator in 1898? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Australian-born British actress, journalist, and novelist P. L. Travers is best remembered for her series of fictional children’s books about the prim, vain, imperious, acerbic, and mysteriously magical nanny Mary Poppins. The books were a great success, and Disney’s award-winning 1964 film adaptation made the author even more famous. Travers worked as an adviser on the film, but in the end she was unhappy with it and never allowed anyone related to the production to adapt her work again. Why? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary