Definition: (noun) A mild contagious eruptive disease caused by a virus and capable of producing congenital defects in infants born to mothers infected during the first three months of pregnancy.
Synonyms: German measles, epidemic roseola, three-day measles.
Usage: The parents were relieved when the doctor said that their son’s rubella would improve in a matter of days.
Discuss
Month: August 2022
Northeast Blackout of 2003 Begins (2003)
Caused by a cascading failure of more than 100 power plants originating in Ohio, the Northeast Blackout of 2003 was the largest power outage in North American history, affecting around 50 million people in eight US states and Ontario, Canada. The power outage began just after 4 PM and brought traffic and public transportation to a standstill, leaving many commuters stranded. Power was not fully restored until August 16. What band performed as scheduled in NYC’s Central Park despite the blackout? Discuss
Wim Wenders (1945)
Wenders is a German filmmaker who earned international acclaim for his documentary Buena Vista Social Club, featuring elderly Cuban musicians. He first attracted attention with The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, a film whose themes of alienation and rootlessness are echoed in his other works. Paris, Texas was his first truly successful feature and earned him the top prize at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Wenders has also directed music videos for what popular band? Discuss
yell silently
To think angry thoughts without verbalizing them. Watch the video
The Animated Cartoon
An animated cartoon is a moving picture generated by photographing a series of drawings, objects, or computer graphics frame by frame, and recording the very slight, continuous changes in the images that then simulate motion. Paleolithic cave paintings show early attempts to capture motion in drawings, as animals are depicted with superimposed sets of legs. In the 19th century, flip books created the illusion of motion in drawings, and the first animated projection appeared in 1892. What was it? Discuss
clavus
Cortés Conquers Tenochtitlán (1521)
Tenochtitlán was the flourishing capital of the Aztec Empire with an estimated population of between 200,000 and 300,000, a unique system of lake agriculture known as chinampas, and a ceremonial precinct that contained a great pyramid sacred to the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés was chased from the city in 1520, but returned a year later, took the city after a three-month siege, and razed it. What tragedy helped Cortés to defeat the Aztecs this time? Discuss
Salvador Luria (1912)
Luria was an Italian biologist who began his career in Paris studying the effects of radiation on bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria. After immigrating to the US during World War II, he started using bacteriophages to study such fundamental life processes as self-replication and mutation, along with Alfred Hershey and Max Delbrück. For their efforts, the three biologists shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in physiology. What famous scientific breakthrough came from one of Luria’s students? Discuss
yardarm to yardarm
outdated Really close together. Watch the video
Lucky Clover
The four-leaf clover is a rare mutation of the common three-leaf clover. There are an estimated 10,000 three-leaf clovers for every four-leaf clover. Believed to be an omen of good luck, the four-leaf clover’s leaves represent faith, hope, love, and luck. It is not the only famous type of clover, however. The five-leaf clover is actually said to be luckier, while the three-leaf clover is Ireland’s emblem, also known as a shamrock. What is the greatest number of leaves ever found on one clover? Discuss