Bike Week is the largest motorcycle meet in the world, held for 10 days in Daytona Beach, Florida. The highlight of the week is the Daytona 200 race, which attracts competitors from all over the world. Other races include a three-hour U.S. Endurance Championship race and vintage motorcycle races on Classics Day. These events take place in the Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium and on the Daytona International Speedway. Another popular feature of the week is a parade of over 5,000 motorcycles, and concerts and trade shows are held throughout the week. Discuss
Month: March 2021
leather-lunged
(used before a noun) Having an extremely or inordinately loud or strong voice, as of someone with very robust lungs. Watch the video
Astro Boy
Created in the early 1950s by Osamu Tezuka—a Japanese artist revered by fans as the “God of Manga”—Astro Boy was an influential and successful comic book series. In 1963, it was adapted into a television program considered to have been one of the first expressions of the style now known as anime. The series follows the adventures of a powerful robot that was designed to resemble a real boy. What iconic American animator did Tezuka meet at the New York World’s Fair in 1964? Discuss
coruscate
Definition: (verb) Be lively or brilliant or exhibit virtuosity.
Synonyms: sparkle, scintillate.
Usage: The flutist’s music coruscated throughout the concert hall.
Discuss
salad
corn salad – A name given to several species of annual herbs sometimes used for salad. More…
fruit cocktail, fruit cup, fruit salad – Fruit cocktail (1922) is a mixture of sliced or diced fruits, and it is synonymous with fruit cup (1931); fruit salad (1861) is a salad composed of fruits. More…
salad days – Those when one is green in judgment, young and inexperienced. More…
salad – A shortened version of Latin herba salata, “salted vegetables,” from Latin sal, “salt.” More…
Real Madrid Football Club Founded (1902)
One of the richest and most valuable sports franchises in the world, the Real Madrid Football Club is also one of the most successful, having won dozens of championships over the course of its storied history. In 1953, club president Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, a former player, embarked on the strategy of signing world-class players from abroad, not only from Spain—a trend that has continued to fuel the club’s success and worldwide popularity. Who owns and operates Real Madrid? Discuss
Alamo Day
In 1836, a garrison of Texans took a stand against the Mexican Army at a Franciscan mission in San Antonio, named after the grove of cottonwood trees (alamo in Spanish) that surrounded it. Led by William Barret Travis, the band of volunteers was beseiged for 13 days by Mexican soldiers. Travis refused to surrender, and the Alamo was overrun on the morning of March 6. Only women and children survived. The heroic action at the Alamo gave the Texans time to organize the forces necessary to save their independence movement. Discuss
in leaps and bounds
By very large degrees; rapidly or in quick progress forward. Watch the video
Plum Island Animal Disease Center
Though it is located just off the coast of heavily populated Long Island, New York, Plum Island has no sizable civilian population of its own. Any wild mammal found there is killed on sight. That is because the island is home to a federal research center that investigates animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever. Fueling public imagination about the island, several unidentified animal carcasses have washed up on nearby beaches—including what notable “monster” in 2008? Discuss