Definition: (noun) Treacherous cunning; skillful deceit.
Synonyms: craftiness, foxiness, slyness, wiliness, cunning.
Usage: Her mild eyes seemed incapable of any severity or guile, and yet she has committed a murder.
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Month: February 2023
Edward VI Crowned King of England (1547)
Edward VI succeeded his father, Henry VIII, to the throne at age nine and had a brief but tumultuous reign. War with France broke out in 1549 over the possession of Boulogne. At home, the peasantry grew disgruntled at the enclosure of the common land, Edward’s advisors engaged in ruthless political scheming, and religious inclinations began to shift in favor of Protestantism—the king’s religion. Unrest continued after Edward’s death at age 15 because he had named whom as his successor? Discuss
Joshua Slocum (1844)
Slocum was a Canadian seaman and adventurer who, in 1898, became the first man to circumnavigate the globe on his own, traveling 46,000 mi (74,000 km) in three years. His account of the voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, became a classic of travel literature and brought him worldwide fame. In November 1909, he disappeared during another voyage and was declared legally dead 15 years later. What is believed to have happened to him? Discuss
bring a knife to a gunfight
To come poorly prepared or equipped for some task, goal, competition, or confrontation. Often used in the negative as a forewarning or piece of advice. Watch the video
The Boll Weevil
The boll weevil is a beetle that feeds on bolls, the seed-bearing capsules of cotton plants. Probably of Mexican or Central American origin, the boll weevil appeared in Texas about 1892, spread to most cotton-growing regions of the US, and eventually became responsible for the destruction of about 8% of the nation’s annual cotton crop. Eradication programs begun in 1978 have proven successful in many states. Why did the citizens of Enterprise, Alabama, erect a monument to the pest in 1919? Discuss
abdicate
The Battle of Gallipoli Begins (1915)
The Battle of Gallipoli took place on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli during World War I. It was initiated by the Allies to open a Black Sea supply route to Russia and capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. The Allied navy arrived at Gallipoli in February 1915 but did not get sufficient land support for two months, giving the Turkish army ample time to reinforce its troops. After months of fighting, the Allied forces withdrew in January 1916. What had caused the Allied army’s delay? Discuss
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473)
Copernicus was a church canon, physician, and economist, but his most important work was in the field of astronomy. He developed the heliocentric theory of the universe that placed the Sun, not the Earth, at the center of our solar system and helped launch a scientific revolution. Though Copernicus conceived his revolutionary model of planetary motion by 1530, his treatise on the subject did not see print until he was on his deathbed in 1543. What heliocentric hypotheses preceded Copernicus’s? Discuss
a bridge too far
An act or plan whose ambition overreaches its capability, resulting in or potentially leading to difficulty or failure. Taken from the 1974 book A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan, which details the Allies’ disastrous attempts to capture German-controlled bridges in the Netherlands during World War II. Watch the video
Diamond Head, Hawaii
Diamond Head—Le’ahi in Hawaiian—is a peak along the rim of an extinct volcano in southeast Oahu. Its English name was given by 19th-century British sailors who mistook calcite crystals embedded in the rock for diamonds. A prominent point in the Honolulu skyline, Diamond Head was designated a national natural landmark to protect its slopes from the commercial development along world-famous Waikiki Beach. Why do scientists think that Diamond Head was formed by a short-lived eruption? Discuss