The passage in 1968 of Public Law 90-363, also known as the “Monday Holiday Law,” changed the observance of Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Because it occurs so soon after Lincoln’s Birthday, many states—such as Hawaii, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Wyoming—combine the two holidays and call it Presidents’ Day or Washington-Lincoln Day. Some regard it as a day to honor all former presidents of the US. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, produced a treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in order to combat global warming. Representatives of 172 nations agreed to work toward the sustainable development of the planet, although most of the agreements were not legally binding. In 1997, an amendment was negotiated called the Kyoto Protocol, by which participating nations commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide. Which countries have not ratified the agreement? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) An event that is experienced as indicating important things to come.
Synonyms: augury, preindication, sign.
Usage: He refused to think that the rain was a foretoken of gloom for his date that night.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same time a profound philosopher. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Aleppo Codex is one of the oldest manuscripts of the Masoretic Hebrew Bible. The scribe Shlomo ben Buya’a copied the text of the Codex circa 920 CE. It was delivered to the Karaite community of Jerusalem in the 11th century but was looted and taken to Cairo, Egypt. There, it was consulted by Maimonides, the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages. Later, it was taken to Aleppo, Syria, where the community guarded it zealously for 600 years. What happened to the Codex in 1947? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Galileo was a Tuscan astronomer, philosopher, and physicist whose technological advances and scientific investigations greatly enhanced humanity’s knowledge of the universe. Though his work is today considered crucial to the development of the modern scientific method, the Catholic Church of the 17th century tried him for heresy and forced him to abjure his findings. When did the Catholic Church finally reverse its position on Galileo and publicly declare that it had been in the wrong? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Kamakura Matsuri is held in northern Japan in the Akita Prefecture, at the time of year when there is usually deep snow on the ground. In Yokote and other towns of the region, children build Kamakura, snow houses that resemble igloos. They furnish the huts with tatami mats and a wooden altar dedicated to Suijin-sama and have parties in them, while families gather to drink sweet sake and eat rice cakes and fruits. The rice cakes are made in the shape of cranes and turtles, traditional symbols of longevity, and of dogs called inukko, thought to guard against devils. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Ocean Ranger was a semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit that sank in Canadian waters on February 15, 1982, killing all 84 men on board. The crew had been drilling an exploration well in the Grand Banks area, 166 miles (267 km) east of St. John’s, Newfoundland, for Mobil Oil of Canada, Ltd., when a sudden storm struck the rig. Rescue attempts were thwarted by the severe weather. After a two-year investigation into the disaster, what did a Canadian Royal Commission conclude? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) Crudely or irregularly fashioned verse, often of a humorous or burlesque nature.
Synonyms: jingle.
Usage: I want the man I love and honor to be something finer and higher than a perpetrator of jokes and doggerel.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary