Definition: (adjective) Shining brilliantly; resplendent.
Synonyms: radiant, refulgent, beamy, beaming.
Usage: Hidden nooks and corners, unused to observation, suddenly gleam and blush in effulgent exposure,—like lovers whom the unexpected turning on of a light has revealed kissing in the dark.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
Nearly three decades ago, a 14-year-old in the United Kingdom got hit in the eye during a game of badminton and lost her contact lens. No big deal, right? Well, 28 years later, doctors found the missing contact … embedded in a cyst in her left eyelid. It’s … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
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John Fitch was a man plagued by misfortune. His first foundry was a failure and his second was destroyed in the American Revolution. During a short-lived career as a surveyor in the early 1780s, he was captured by Native Americans. His luck finally seemed to turn around in 1786, when he built the first steamboat in the US, and in 1787, when he demonstrated his aptly named Perseverance on the Delaware River for an audience from the Constitutional Convention. Was his good fortune to last? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
This internationally famous, month-long festival in Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany, celebrates the music of Richard Wagner. Performances are in the Festspielhaus (Festival Theater) designed by Wagner himself specifically for the presentation of his works. The festival was launched with the first complete performance of the four-opera Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), triumphantly presented in the new Festspielhaus (Festival Theater) on Aug. 13, 14, 16, and 17, 1876. Except for wartime interruptions, the festival has been staged every year since then. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Unappreciated in his time, Papin was a French physicist and inventor who significantly advanced the development of steam power. In 1679, he invented a steam digester that was the forerunner of the pressure cooker, in the process demonstrating the influence of atmospheric pressure on boiling points. His observations of his digester then led him to design a steam-driven piston that became the basis for early steam engines. Despite his innovations, he died in relative obscurity. Where is he buried? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths, are clusters of calcareous matter that form in the rear of the mouth in the crevasses of the tonsils, called tonsillar crypts. Though the mechanism by which they form is debated, they are known to be composed of calcium salts, sometimes in combination with mineral salts. Typically small in size, they can be difficult to diagnose. However, they are not harmful and can usually be removed by the patient. How big can tonsilloliths get? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Disposed to please.
Synonyms: amiable.
Usage: He was generally a good-humored, sensible man; but if his temper was a little out…nobody liked to come too near his fist, for he could deal a very heavy blow.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
After having more than 20 surgeries over four years, Katie Stubblefield finally has a new face. In May of last year, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic helped the then 21-year-old become the world’s 40th face transplant recipient, and the youngest in U.S … Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Aquino, leader of the Philippines’ Liberal Party, was planning to run for president in 1972 when Ferdinand Marcos, the incumbent, declared martial law and had Aquino arrested on inflated charges. Aquino served eight years in prison, at one point demonstrating against his sentence with a 40-day hunger strike. In 1980, he was released to go to the US for heart-bypass surgery. After three years in exile, he returned to the Philippines and was immediately assassinated. Why had Aquino gone back? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
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Although the Salzburg Festival features musical events by a wide variety of composers and performances by internationally celebrated musicians, conductors and singers, the festival has always paid special homage to Mozart. The festival takes place at the end of July and through most of August at different venues throughout Salzburg—most of the operatic and large orchestral pieces are performed in the Festspielhaus, chamber music concerts are usually given in the hall of the Mozarteum, and the Residenz is the scene for serenade concerts held by candlelight. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary