Ice cream is a symbol of summer and a favorite treat of both children and adults. Traditionally, it is made from milk and sugar. Today, many non-dairy versions are also available, often made from nut "milks."... Read more
Batteries have been a part of our lives for as long as electronics have. A battery is a device designed to "convert chemical energy directly into electrical energy."... Read more
Dragons have long mystified mankind. These monstrous legendary creatures are typically seen as serpent-like, many having wings or the ability to fly. In fact, the English word "dragon" is derived from the Greek word drakon, referring to a large serpent. Some have legs or the features of terrestrial beasts. Many had "extraordinary breath," able to exhale smoke, fire, water, ice, or wind... Read more
The Justice League is DC Comics' team of all-star superheroes. Among their ranks are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. A number of other superheroes have joined the Justice League's ranks since their first comic book appearance in 1960... Read more
Canada is located in North America, north of the United States. It is well-known for maple syrup, Niagara Falls, and hockey. The beaver is the national animal... Read more
Christmas pudding, also called plum pudding or figgy pudding, is a traditional holiday desert, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland.... Read more
"Don't cry over spilt milk." "There's no use crying over spilled milk." The above idiom in its various forms is often used to mean "don't worry about something that has already happened and that you can't change. In its current form, the phrase first appears in print in... Read more
A jigsaw puzzle is "any set of varied, irregularly shaped pieces that, when properly assembled, form a picture or map." The first puzzles, created in England during the 1700s, were teaching tools - "dissected" maps, alphabets, or pictures of animals... Read more
Cakes are sweetened bread-like pastries. They may include fruits, nuts, or sugary icings. Cakes of various types have been made and consumed throughout history.... Read more
The 1996 slasher film Scream gave rise to a long-lasting horror entertainment franchise. The main antagonist is "a mysterious killer in a Halloween costume known as Ghostface."... Read more
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team, part of the National Football League (NFL), based in Texas. They began playing in 1960, and by 2015, Forbes magazine named them the most valuable sports team in the world. They hold a record of 20 straight winning seasons.... Read more
What is Thanksgiving? In the United States and Canada, this holiday celebrates "the harvest and other blessings of the past year." In the U.S., the holiday is linked to a legend of a feast shared by the English colonists and the Wampanoag Native American people in 1621... Read more
Our perception of the American West has largely been shaped by literature and Western films. Stereotypical symbols of the West include vast cactus-clad deserts, cowboys riding a horse into the sunset, and wanted posters on saloon walls... Read more
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "the bath as an institution has a long history." From the Bible to ancient Egyptian architecture, you can find evidence of baths and dedicated bathrooms. In ancient Rome, the baths were more akin to spas, containing not only areas for washing but also for steam treatments and massage. From ancient to medieval times, most baths were public institutes rather than private rooms... Read more
For the flute, "a stream of air [is] directed against a sharp edge" which separates into eddies. The tone and sound are controlled by the placement of the fingers over the flute's holes. The flute in our illustration is known as a recorder, fipple flute, or whistle flute. The recorder was produced during the fourteenth century; today, it is often used in schools as the students' introduction to playing a musical instrument... Read more
Radio waves were first discovered in 1886. By 1894, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi had devised a way to transmit telegraph signals via radio waves. Radio was being used commercially by 1920, and... Read more
Fruitcake is both lauded as a holiday gift-giving tradition and loathed as the butt of jokes and as a synonym for "crazy." What is a fruitcake? It is a very heavy spice cake filled with candied or dried and sugared fruits and nuts. Some recipes also contain alcohol. Fruitcake is known for lasting many years due to the preserving qualities of the sugar and alcohol... Read more
New Year festivals are celebrated around the world. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, they are "among the oldest and the most universally observed."... Read more
An axe or ax is a chopping or cutting tool that has been used by humans since the Stone Age. The first axes were, not surprisingly, made from sharpened blocks of stone. Later, wooden handles were added and the blades were made from copper, bronze, or iron... Read more
Camping is a "recreational activity in which participants take up temporary residence in the outdoors." Camping first took a recreational turn around 1908, with the publication of The Camper's Handbook... Read more