After winning an amateur contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1934, Fitzgerald started singing with Chick Webb’s big band and soon became its star. She recorded her first hit, “A Tisket-A Tasket,” in 1938 and went on to become one of the best-selling vocal recording artists in history and a 14-time Grammy Award winner. In 1960, she made a famous live recording in which she improvised new lyrics to a song after forgetting the original ones. The performance earned her a Grammy. What song was it? Discuss
Author: Ian
arbor
Definition: (noun) A shady resting place in a garden or park, often made of rustic work or latticework on which plants, such as climbing shrubs or vines, are grown.
Synonyms: bower, pergola.
Usage: I never saw such a garden—large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lined with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them.
Discuss
Sambo
Sambo is a modern martial art and combat sport that was developed to enhance the military’s hand-to-hand combat system in the former Soviet Union. In 1938, it was named the official sport of the USSR. Sambo combines a variety of wrestling styles with east Asian martial arts, boxing, and even fencing, from which it derives its parrying and lunging techniques. What does the combat style’s name mean? Discuss
Hubble Space Telescope Launched (1990)
The Hubble Space Telescope is the most sophisticated optical observatory ever placed into orbit around Earth, able to view star material some 10 to 12 billion light years away. Because it is above Earth’s obscuring atmosphere, it can obtain images that are much brighter, clearer, and more detailed than ground-based telescope images. Although a defect in the primary mirror initially caused it to produce fuzzy images, a 1993 shuttle mission fixed this. What are some of Hubble’s most famous images? Discuss
amulet
William Joyce (1906)
Born in the US and taken to the UK as a child, Joyce became involved with the fascist movement as a teen and fled to Germany before the outbreak of WWII. He remained there throughout the war, broadcasting Nazi propaganda in English from Berlin. He was captured by British soldiers in 1945 and, despite his American birth, was deemed subject to British jurisdiction because he held a British passport. He was convicted of treason and hanged. What urban legends about Joyce circulated during the war? Discuss
be in with a chance
To have a good chance or high probability of doing or accomplishing something. Primarily heard in UK. Watch the video
Buzkashi
Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport in which players on horseback try to grab the carcass of a headless goat or calf and pitch it across a goal line or into a target circle or vat. Although it is known as a popular Afghani sport, Buzkashi began as a sport of the steppes, a vast, prairie-like ecoregion of Eurasia, and remains a popular game throughout the region. Games can last for several days, and competition is fierce. How is the animal carcass prepared before a game? Discuss
connoisseur
Definition: (noun) A person with expert knowledge or training, especially in the fine arts.
Synonyms: cognoscente.
Usage: I brought the painting to the world’s best art connoisseurs, and they all agreed that it was an authentic Picasso and would fetch millions at auction.
Discuss
Shirley Temple (1928)
A precocious performer known for her dimples and golden curls, Temple was a child actress who became America’s most popular female star and Hollywood’s top box office attraction in the Great Depression era. In 1934, she made nine movies, leaping to stardom with Little Miss Marker and winning a special Academy Award that year. She effectively retired from moviemaking in 1950. As an adult, Temple served as a US delegate to the UN General Assembly and as US ambassador to what countries? Discuss