La Dolce Vita: This has got me all hot and bothered

Word of the Day

Play hard-pressed discuss
Definition:	(adjective) Facing or experiencing financial trouble or difficulty.
Synonyms:	distressed, hard put, in a bad way
Usage:	Hard-pressed consumers are spending less on luxuries.

Word of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary

Article of the Day

Holodomor

A combination of the Ukrainian words holod, meaning "hunger," and mor, meaning "plague," the term Holodomor refers to the Ukrainian famine that led to millions of deaths in 1932 and 1933. Though some scholars note that natural causes—such as weather and a poor harvest—might have contributed to the famine, most modern historians agree that it was a direct result of the policies of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. For that reason, the Holodomor is sometimes referred to as what? More... Discuss

Article of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary

This Day in History

Magellan Space Probe Reaches Venus (1990)

The first planetary spacecraft to be launched from a space shuttle, Magellan took 15 months to reach its destination, arriving in orbit around the second planet from the Sun in August 1990. It was then put to work generating high-resolution maps of Venus's surface and measuring the planet's gravity. Four years later, with its mission complete, Magellan plunged into Venus's tremendously dense atmosphere and disintegrated. What do Magellan's images reveal about the planet? More... Discuss

This Day in History provided by The Free Dictionary

Today's Birthday

Henri Nestlé (1814)

Born in Germany, Nestlé was the 11th of 14 children—only half of whom survived to adulthood. After apprenticing to a pharmacist in the 1830s, he began to work on an infant food that could serve as a substitute for breast milk for struggling babies. Combining milk, flour, and sugar, he created the first commercial infant formula and founded what is today the largest processed foods company in the world. The Nestlé company logo is derived from the family coat of arms, which includes what image? More... Discuss

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Quote of the Day