It was on the morning of December 17, 1903, that Wilbur and Orville Wright became the first men to fly and control a powered heavier-than-air machine. Events on December 17 traditionally include a “flyover” by military aircraft and a special ceremony held at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, a 425-acre area that features a 60-foot granite pylon on top of Kill Devil Hill, where the Wright Brothers’ camp was located. The flyover takes place at precisely 10:35 a.m., the time of the original flight in 1903. Discuss
Month: December 2020
inner circle
A small, exclusive, and intimate group of like-minded people sharing a common goal, pursuit, or purpose. Watch the video
Kohl
Ancient Egyptians used kohl eyeliner for cosmetic as well as medical reasons, believing that it protected the eyes from the Sun. It remains popular in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East today. Though homemade preparations are made from soot, commercial kohl products often contain galena—also known as lead sulfide—and have the potential to expose users to lead. Many Indian parents line their babies’ eyes with kohl or apply a dot of it behind their babies’ ears to protect them from what? Discuss
titivate
Gilbert Chesterton
The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder. Discuss
rooms
pied-a-terre – A small town house or rooms used for short residences (1829), from French “foot on the ground.” More…
party wall – A wall common to two adjoining buildings or rooms. More…
lobby – One of its early meanings was “monastic cloister,” from Latin lobia, “covered way,” before it came to mean the passage or waiting area between rooms in a building. More…
enfilade – A suite of rooms with doorways in line with each other—or a vista between rows of trees. More…
Day of Reconciliation
The South African legal holiday known as the Day of Reconciliation was established on December 16, 1838, in commemoration of the victory of the Voortrekkers over Dingane and the Zulus. The original name for this holiday was Dingaan’s Day, then it was called Day of the Vow during apartheid. After South Africa renounced apartheid and held its first democratic election in 1994, the day remained a legal holiday but acquired a new name to reflect its new focus: promoting national unity and healing. Discuss
ink-slinger
slang A writer, especially one who produces a large amount of low-quality material for a living. Watch the video
Zamyatin's We
Written in the early 1920s by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin, We was not published in the Soviet Union until 1988. Said to be the literary ancestor of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984, it is an early dystopian novel in which humans are given numbers instead of names and individuality has been eradicated. The main character, D-503, becomes involved with a resistance group that tries to take down the totalitarian state in which they live. What happens? Discuss