In an iconic scene from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the titular prince contemplates the skull of the former court jester Yorick, juxtaposing his jocular existence and his death. The skull is an example of a memento mori—an object intended to remind people of the inevitability of death. Derived from a Latin phrase meaning “be mindful of dying,” the term has a tradition in art that dates back to antiquity. What famous paintings feature a memento mori? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Of, relating to, produced by, or characterized by internal dissension.
Synonyms: divisive.
Usage: Fouquet has raised against your majesty a troop of factious rioters to extricate his friends from punishment.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Many congregations within the Eastern Orthodox Church commemorate the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt on December 26. According to the Gospel of St. Matthew, King Herod wanted to seek out and kill the infant Jesus. But an angel warned Joseph, the husband of Jesus’ mother, Mary, of the danger and instructed him to take the family to Egypt for safety and to remain there until Herod’s death. Two days later, according to the Gospel, all of the male children under two years of age in Bethlehem were massacred, an event that is commemorated on Holy Innocents’ Day. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Crinoline is a stiff fabric made with cotton warp and horsehair. By the 1850s, the term was being applied to a large, steel-framed underskirt used to give skirts a fuller shape. This sort of crinoline enjoyed widespread popularity for over a decade despite the fact that it could endanger one’s life. It is believed that a number of women burned to death in part because their crinolines made their garments more flammable. How, according to legend, did a crinoline save the life of one jilted lover? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) An especially luminous meteor (sometimes exploding).
Synonyms: fireball.
Usage: Nancy stared in awe through her telescope as a bolide rocketed into her view, shining brightly in the night sky.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Charlemagne was king of the Franks (768–814) and emperor of the West (800–814). With the exception of the British Isles and parts of Italy and Spain, he united in one vast state almost all the Christian lands of Western Europe. After restoring Leo III to the papacy, he was crowned emperor in Rome on Christmas Day, 800 CE, finalizing the split between the Byzantine and Roman empires and marking the revival of the empire that was the forerunner of the Holy Roman Empire. What language did he speak? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Sami are the descendants of ancient nomadic peoples who inhabited northern Scandinavia. They are sometimes called Laplanders, but many Sami consider this name pejorative. From the earliest times, they survived through hunting reindeer, and they became nomadic when they began to herd them a few centuries ago. Today, however, most Sami live in permanent dwellings and only about 10 percent still raise and follow the reindeer herds. What Academy Award-winning American actress is of Sami descent? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (adjective) Feeling or showing extreme anger.
Synonyms: irate.
Usage: The ireful, angry chief was not so easily mollified.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
For millennia, artworks have been looted during times of war. By the time Alexander the Great invaded Egypt in 332 BCE, the tombs of almost all the Pharaohs had already been looted, and as recently as the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, thieves looted Baghdad’s national museum. Much of the Louvre’s collection was amassed through Napoleon’s systematic plundering, an example the Nazis followed in WWII, looting an estimated 20% of the art in Europe. What happened to this art after Germany’s defeat? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) A worsening of business or economic activity.
Synonyms: downturn.
Usage: Panicked investors scrambled to secure their assets as the market took a severe downswing for the third time in a month.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary