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August 18, 2026
Aug 18, 2026
Word
hackle
noun
Definition
  1. one of the long feathers on the neck or back of a bird
  2. hairs (as on a dog's neck) that can be erected
  3. temper, dander
Example
The Senator's aggressive stance toward illegal immigration has raised some hackles.
Origin
In its earliest uses in the 15th century, "hackle" denoted either a bird's neck plumage or an instrument used to comb out long fibers of flax, hemp, or jute. Apparently, some folks saw a resemblance between the neck feathers of domestic birds -- which, on a male, become erect when the bird is defensive -- and the prongs of the comb-like tool. In the 19th century, English speakers extended the word's use to both dogs and people. Like the bird's feathers, the erectile hairs on the back of a dog's neck stand up when the animal is agitated. With humans, use of the word "hackles" is usually figurative. When you raise someone's hackles, you make them angry or put them on the defensive.
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
hair shirt
A self-imposed punishment or penance, as in I apologized a dozen times---do you want me to wear a hair shirt forever? This term, mentioned from the 13th century on, alludes to wearing a coarse, scratchy hair shirt, the practice of religious ascetics. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1800s.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. The infinity sign is called a lemniscate.
  2. Male pups will intentionally let female pups “win“ when they play-fight so they can get to know them better.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Norman Rockwell
Feb 3, 1894 - Nov 8, 1978

Norman Percevel Rockwell was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over nearly five decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, The Problem We All Live With, Saying Grace, and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his 64-year relationship with the Boy Scouts of America, during which he produced covers for their publication Boys' Life, calendars, and other illustrations. These works include popular images that reflect the Scout Oath and Scout Law such as The Scoutmaster, A Scout is Reverent and A Guiding Hand, among many others.

Norman Rockwell was a prolific artist, producing more than 4,000 original works in his lifetime. Most of his surviving works are in public collections.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Jayaprakash Narayan
Oct 11, 1902 - Oct 8, 1979

Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly referred to as JP or Lok Nayak, was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is also known as the "Hero of Quit India Movement" and he is remembered for leading the mid-1970s opposition against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, for whose overthrow he had called for a "total revolution". His biography, Jayaprakash, was written by his nationalist friend and an eminent writer of Hindi literature, Rambriksh Benipuri. In 1999, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in recognition of his social work. Other awards include the Magsaysay award for Public Service in 1965.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
Naval operations in the Dardanelles campaign
Feb 19, 1915 - Jan 9, 1916

The naval operations in the Dardanelles campaign took place against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Ships of the Royal Navy, French Marine nationale, Imperial Russian Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, attempted to force the defences of the Dardanelles Straits, a narrow, 41 mi long waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea.

The Dardanelles campaign began as a naval operation but the success of the Ottoman defence led the Allies to initiate the Gallipoli campaign, an attempt to occupy the Gallipoli peninsula with land forces supported by the navies, to open the sea route to Constantinople. The Allies also tried to pass submarines through the Dardanelles to attack Ottoman shipping in the Sea of Marmara.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture