Ecclestone is a controversial British business magnate and one of the most powerful people in the world of Formula One (F1) racing. Briefly a racer, he gave up the sport after several accidents but later returned as a manager and team owner. In the 1970s, he secured his position in the F1 organization by negotiating TV broadcasting rights, vastly increasing the sport’s popularity. In 2004, the billionaire’s home became the most expensive ever sold when a steel magnate bought it for how much? Discuss
Month: October 2022
file 13
A wastepaper basket. Watch the video
Xenophon
Xenophon was a Greek soldier and writer. Born to a wealthy Athenian family, he was a disciple of Socrates before joining the Greek force, known as the Ten Thousand, that served Persian prince Cyrus the Younger at the disastrous battle of Cunaxa. After Cyrus and the Greek generals were killed, Xenophon was chosen as one of the leaders of the army’s heroic retreat, an experience he recounted in Anabasis, his most celebrated work. Why was Xenophon later exiled from Athens? Discuss
bedlam
Definition: (noun) A place or situation of noisy uproar and confusion.
Synonyms: chaos, pandemonium, topsy-turvydom, topsy-turvyness.
Usage: They quarreled and bickered more than ever among themselves, till at times the camp was a howling bedlam.
Discuss
Treaty of Madrid Signed (1795)
The Treaty of Madrid—also called Pinckney’s Treaty or the Treaty of San Lorenzo—was an agreement between the fledgling nation of the United States and colonial Spain. It defined the boundaries between the US and Spanish colonies to the south and west, and it secured the US rights to navigate the Mississippi River, which was a critical waterway for trade. The signatories also agreed not to incite native tribes to warfare. The borders defined by this treaty correspond to what boundaries today? Discuss
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Independence and Thanksgiving Day
A group of islands in the West Indies, St. Vincent and the Grenadines gained independence from Britain on October 27, 1979, and its citizens celebrate their freedom with this national holiday. Discuss
Theodore Roosevelt (1858)
A hero of the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt served as governor of New York and, later, as vice president under William McKinley. After McKinley’s assassination, he became the 26th president of the US. His administration was marked by the regulation of trusts, the building of the Panama Canal, and a foreign policy based on the motto “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” In 1906, he became the first sitting American president to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in mediating what conflict? Discuss
enough (something) to choke Caligula's horse
A lot of something. The phrase likely mentions Caligula because the Roman emperor was known for his penchant for excess. Watch the video
The Roof, the Roof, the Roof (of My Mouth) Is on Fire!
The burning sensation that engulfs your mouth when you eat a chili pepper is caused by the extremely pungent compound capsaicin. In 1912, Wilber Lincoln Scoville devised a system for ranking the relative spiciness of different peppers based on the degree of dilution necessary for a panel of taste testers to no longer feel the “heat” when sipping a pepper extract. The higher a pepper’s measurement in Scoville units, the hotter it is. What are some of the world’s hottest peppers? Discuss
variola
Definition: (noun) An acute, highly infectious, often fatal disease caused by a poxvirus and characterized by high fever and aches with subsequent widespread eruption of pimples that blister, produce pus, and form pockmarks.
Synonyms: smallpox.
Usage: We could tell from the scars on the faces of the villagers that a variola epidemic had passed through the area in their lifetimes.
Discuss