December 28, 2006
Premieres in Paris
Cyrano de Bergerac is an 1897 play written by Edmond Rostand based on the life of a real person of the same name, a soldier and poet with an unusually large nose. Cyrano is in love with the beautiful Roxane, but he is obliged to woo her on behalf of a more conventionally handsome, but less articulate, friend. The play is responsible for introducing the word "panache" into the English language. What Hollywood film starring comedian Steve Martin is based on this French play?El Dorado
El Dorado is a fabled city of gold and precious jewels believed by the 16th-century Spanish and other Europeans to exist somewhere in the area of the Orinoco and Amazon rivers. The name is derived from the legend of a chief of a land thought to be in modern Colombia, South America, who was ceremonially covered with gold or gold dust, thus becoming el dorado, "the gilded man." Who were some of the explorers who searched for El Dorado?December 27, 2006
Former President Ford Dies at Age 93
Former President Gerald R. Ford, who served as the 38th president of the United States, died Tuesday night at age 93. Ford replaced Spiro T. Agnew as vice president in 1973 after Agnew pleaded no contest to income tax evasion. In 1974 President Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal, making Ford the nation's only unelected commander in chief. Ford campaigned to stay in office in 1976, but lost to Jimmy Carter.cultivable
DEFINITION: (adj.) Capable of being farmed productively.
SYNONYMS: arable, cultivatable, tillable.
USAGE: Though she had inherited a large farm, it was practically worthless because of the lack of cultivable land.
Johannes Kepler
Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he derived the famous Laws of Planetary Motion, which state that the planets move around the Sun in ellipses, not circles. He is known variously as the first theoretical astrophysicist and the last scientific astrologer. When Kepler was five years old, his mother, who was later tried for witchcraft, took him to observe what?Korea is Divided
Korea was partitioned into two halves following WWII, when a US and USSR joint commission failed to come to a satisfactory compromise, and arbitration by the UN favoring the US was rejected by the USSR. Today, South Korea is Western-leaning and has developed in the direction of liberal democracy, while North Korea is a Communist state, often referred to as Stalinist. Korea was originally divided along what line of latitude that cuts across Asia, the Mediterranean, and the US?Thomas Hardy
Pessimism...is, in brief, playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child's play.Filibuster
This term is used to designate obstructionist tactics in legislative assemblies. It has particular reference to the US Senate, where the tradition of unlimited debate is very strong. It was not until 1917 that the Senate provided for cloture, or ending of the debate, by a vote of two thirds of the Senators present. Yet, despite many attempts, cloture has been applied only rarely. In the 17th century the term "filibuster" was applied to whom?December 26, 2006
Healthy Chocolate?
Scientists at the Harvard University School of Public Health examined 136 studies on cocoa and found that it boosts heart health due to its antioxidant chemicals known as flavonoids. The studies show that eating chocolate can lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol levels. Study subjects who ate white chocolate experienced no benefits, since white chocolate lacks cocoa -- and therefore flavonoids.leeway
DEFINITION: (noun) A margin of freedom or variation, as of activity, time, or expenditure; latitude.
SYNONYMS: margin, allowance, tolerance.
USAGE: Lisa's parents gave her a lot of leeway with her curfew, but they expected her to finish all her chores before she left the house.
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