Month: April 2022

mountains

massif – A compact group of mountains or a mountain range section; it first meant “building block” and the word massive is derived from that. More…

Idaho – Shoshone for “light on mountains.” More…

orogenesis, orogeny – Orogenesis is the formation of mountains (Greek oros) and orogeny is the process by which mountains are formed. More…

ultramontane – Means “beyond the mountains.” More…

John Wilkes Booth Shoots Lincoln (1865)

Booth was an American actor and Confederate sympathizer who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC, during a performance of Our American Cousin. Shortly after 10 PM on April 14, 1865, Booth slipped into the presidential box unobserved, shot Lincoln in the head, and vaulted to the stage, breaking his leg in the process. According to witnesses, he then shouted “Sic semper tyrannis,” Virginia’s state motto. What does the Latin phrase mean? Discuss

Rod Steiger (1925)

American actor Rod Steiger got his start in the 1950s and quickly made a name for himself in Hollywood. Over the course of the next five decades, he appeared in dozens of motion pictures. He was thrice nominated for an Academy Award and won once—for his portrayal of Sheriff Bill Gillespie in In the Heat of the Night. As a teen, Steiger ran away from home to join the US Navy during World War II, but later his refusal to glorify war led him to turn down the title role in what film? Discuss

Snakes

Snakes are scaly, cold-blooded, carnivorous reptiles related to lizards. They tend to be limbless and move by muscular contraction. Though they have razor-sharp teeth, they do not chew their prey but instead swallow it whole with the help of a loosely attached jaw. Because their bodies are tubular, some paired organs must be staggered within the body, and one of the two lungs is generally non-functional and sometimes even absent. Why are snakes associated with healing and medicine? Discuss

strings

belly – In the violin family, the top surface of an instrument, across which the strings are placed. More…

spaghetti – Naming pastas for everyday things is an Italian tradition, as in spaghetti, which means “strings.” More…

plectrum – Originally a device for tightening the strings of a harp, it is now the piece used to pluck a guitar’s strings; its plural is plectrums or plectra. More…

puppet, marionette – The word puppet originally meant “doll,” and a puppet usually goes on the hand and arm, while a marionette (or string puppet) is a jointed figure with strings or wires. More…

Tiger Woods Becomes Youngest Golfer to Win Masters Tournament (1997)

Despite recent personal problems that took him off the tour circuit for a time, Eldrick “Tiger” Woods is still considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. In 1997, at the age of 21, he became the youngest player ever to win the Masters Tournament—winning by a record margin of 12 strokes. That same year, he won five other PGA tournaments and became the youngest player ever ranked first in world golf competition. Woods coined the term “Cablinasian” to describe his ethnicity, which is what? Discuss

Samuel Barclay Beckett (1906)

Irish-born playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett settled permanently in Paris in 1937 and thereafter adopted French as his primary literary language, though he went on to translate many of his works into English. Marked by minimal plot and action, existentialist ideas, and humor, the Nobel laureate’s works typify the Theatre of the Absurd. His Waiting for Godot is a classic of the genre and brought him global acclaim. Why did his wife call his receipt of the Nobel Prize a “catastrophe”? Discuss