Month: February 2022

The Ballista

The ballista is an ancient missile launcher designed to hurl long arrows or heavy balls. The largest could accurately hurl 60-pound (27-kg) weights up to about 500 yards (450 m). The Greek version was basically a huge crossbow, while the Roman ballista was powered by torsion and used two separate arms joined at their ends by the cord that propelled the missile. Once the Roman Empire declined, so too did the ballista—it was too challenging and expensive to build. Which weapons took its place? Discuss

stretching

aforcing – The term for stretching the amount of a dish to accommodate more people. More…

extend, extent – Are based on Latin pandere, “stretch.” More…

oscitancy, pandiculation – Oscitancy is the act of yawning; pandiculation is an all-over stretching and yawning, as upon waking, from Latin pandere. More…

racking one’s brain – Figuratively, it means stretching, and is derived from the Tower of London’s torture method. More…

The Washington Naval Treaty Is Signed (1922)

Also known as the Five-Power Treaty, the Washington Naval Treaty was an agreement signed in the wake of World War I in an effort to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. Signed by five of the major Allied Powers—Great Britain, the US, Japan, France, and Italy—the treaty limited the tonnage of aircraft carriers and capital ships and imposed proportional limits on the number of warships each signatory nation could maintain. For how long did signatories adhere to these terms? Discuss

Waitangi Day

A national public holiday in New Zealand, February 6 commemorates the signing of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, in which the Maori natives agreed to coexist peacefully with the European settlers. It was not observed as a public holiday outside the North Island until it became New Zealand Day in 1973. It was observed as such until 1976, when it again became known as Waitangi Day. Waitangi is located on the Bay of Islands at the northern end of the North Island, and the day on which the treaty was signed is observed there by the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Maoris each year. Discuss

Beatrice Cenci (1577)

Beatrice was a young Roman noblewoman whose execution for patricide aroused public sympathy and inspired various poems, novels, and dramas. Her father, Francesco, was a notoriously vicious and cruel man. After years of brutal treatment, Beatrice, her stepmother, brother, and stepbrother could take no more and had Francesco killed. Despite efforts by the people of Rome to obtain mercy for the conspirators, Pope Clement VIII was unyielding. What might have motivated him to uphold their sentences? Discuss

Obscurantism

From the Latin word for darkening—obscurans—comes obscurantism, referring to the practice of deliberately withholding information. This may be done either by concealing facts or—in literature and art—by using an intentionally vague style. The term derives from a 16th-century satire about the dispute between Jew-turned-Dominican friar Johannes Pfefferkorn, who sought to destroy all Jewish texts, and his humanist opponent Johann Reuchlin. Who gave Pfefferkorn permission to burn the works? Discuss