Definition: (noun) A medieval hood of mail suspended from a basinet to protect the head and neck.
Synonyms: camail.
Usage: The sword caught him just below the jaw, but the ventail protected his neck.
Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Smith was the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. He established his first church in New York but was forced to move his headquarters to Ohio, Missouri, and then Illinois. In 1844, he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the US, but he was imprisoned for treason after his efforts to silence Mormon dissenters led to mob violence. While in jail, Smith and his brother were murdered by a mob. Who led the Mormons to Utah after his death? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Verdur Rock, a music festival held in the French-speaking region of Belgium known as Wallonia, offers amateur rock bands a rare shot at playing before a large audience. As many as 10,000 gather for the free one-day event at the Verdur Theater, an open-air venue standing on top of the historic citadel of Namur. Over the years, organizers have negotiated a balance between established international and Belgian performers and the “Young Talents,” local French-speaking bands who earn stage slots by beating out other competitors. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
As a girl, Wang trained as a figure skater. However, after failing to make the US Olympic team, she turned to fashion. She served as senior fashion editor for Vogue for 16 years and as a design director for Ralph Lauren for two before opening her own design salon in 1990. Now a successful fashion designer, Wang has created wedding gowns for the rich and famous as well as costumes for Olympic figure skaters. Which US football team’s cheerleading squad sports uniforms designed by Wang? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Church of Scientology was founded by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. The church believes that a person’s spirit can be cleared of past painful experiences through a process called “auditing,” or freeing the person of the burdens that interfere with happiness and self-realization. It has confronted suspicions from many sides during its history and has been banned and investigated in various countries. What was the purpose of the church’s “Operation Snow White”? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Definition: (noun) A sailor or mariner.
Synonyms: old salt, Jack-tar, mariner, sea dog, seaman, gob, Jack, tar.
Usage: Then he arose quickly, like a seafarer who all at once seeth the land; and he shouted for joy: for he saw a new truth.
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Source: The Free Dictionary
According to a centuries-old legend set in Hamelin, Germany, the Pied Piper was hired by local residents in 1284 to rid the town of rats, which he did by charming them with music and leading them to the river to drown. When the citizens refused to pay him the agreed upon price, he exacted his revenge by charming away their children. Famous versions of the legend were immortalized by Goethe, Robert Browning, and the Brothers Grimm. What historic events may have inspired the tale? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival is a major musical event in the United States, held over the third full week of June in Weiser, Idaho, where fiddling was first heard in 1863. In 1963, in conjunction with Idaho’s Centennial, the competition officially became the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest. Awards are given for the national champion in several categories, with contestants having won their spot through competitions in other states. Besides music, there is a fiddlers parade, street dancing, and sing-alongs. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Buck was raised in China by her American missionary parents and left the country but a few times before she was 40. She drew upon her experiences there in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Good Earth, which describes the struggles of a Chinese peasant and his slave wife. Together with Sons and A House Divided, it forms a trilogy, part of the body of work that earned Buck the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. Buck also wrote five novels under what pseudonym? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which personal profit can be acquired through investment of capital and employment of labor. It stresses freedom of individual economic enterprise but does not presuppose a specific form of social or political organization. Government action has been and is required to curb its abuses, which have ranged from slavery to monopoly cartels and financial fraud. What is the “invisible hand”? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary