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July 27, 2024
Jul 27, 2024
Word
tome
noun
Definition
  1. a volume forming part of a larger work
  2. book; especially : a large or scholarly book
Example
It took me more than a month to finish reading that 800-page tome on European history.
Origin
"Tome" comes from Latin "tomus," which comes from Greek "tomos," meaning "section" or "roll of papyrus." "Tomos" comes from the Greek verb "temnein," which means "to cut." In ancient times, some of the longest scrolls of papyrus occasionally were divided into sections. When it was first used in English in the 16th century, "tome" was a book that was a part of a multi-volume work. Now a tome is most often simply a large and often ponderous book.
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
happy as the day is long
Also, happy as a lark; happy as a clam (at high tide). Extremely glad, delighted, very cheerful, as in He was happy as the day is long, or When she heard the news she was happy as a lark, or Once I got the test results I was happy as a clam at high tide. The first of these similes dates from the late 1700s. The second alludes to the lark's beautiful, seemingly very happy, song. The third, from the early 1800s, alludes to the fact that clams can only be dug at low tide and therefore are safe at high tide; it is often shortened to happy as a clam.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. Over 1 million Earths would fit inside the Sun.
  2. Add up opposing sides of a dice cue and you'll always get seven.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Jacopo Bassano
1510 - Feb 14, 1592

Jacopo Bassano, known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, and took the village as his surname. Trained in the workshop of his father, Francesco the Elder, and studying under Bonifazio Veronese in Venice, he painted mostly religious paintings including landscape and genre scenes. Bassano's pictures were very popular in Venice because of their depiction of animals and nocturnal scenes. His four sons: Francesco Bassano the Younger, Giovanni Battista da Ponte, Leandro Bassano, and Girolamo da Ponte, also became artists and followed him closely in style and subject matter.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Charles François Dumouriez
Jan 26, 1739 - Mar 14, 1823

Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. He shared the victory at Valmy with General François Christophe Kellermann, but later deserted the Revolutionary Army, and became a royalist intriguer during the reign of Napoleon as well as an adviser to the British government. Dumouriez is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 3.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
Philadelphia Liberty Loans Parade

The Philadelphia Liberty Loans Parade was a parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 28, 1918, organized to promote government bonds that helped pay for the needs of Allied troops in World War I. More than 200,000 Philadelphians attended the parade, which led to one of the largest outbreaks of the Spanish flu in the United States. It has since been declared the deadliest parade in American history.

The parade and its aftermath received significant media attention in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, to exemplify the importance of banning large gatherings and enforcing social distancing during a pandemic.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture