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November 7, 2026
Nov 7, 2026
Word
impunity
noun
Definition
exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss
Example
Penalties for breaking the law can be made harsher, but without extra funding for its enforcement, people will continue to violate it with impunity.
Origin
Impunity (like the words pain, penal, and punish) traces to the Latin noun poena, meaning "punishment." The Latin word, in turn, came from Greek poinē, meaning "payment" or "penalty." People acting with impunity have prompted use of the word since the 1500s, as in this 1660 example by Englishman Roger Coke: "This unlimited power of doing anything with impunity, will only beget a confidence in kings of doing what they list [desire]." While royals may act with impunity more easily than others, the word impunity can be applied to the lowliest of beings as well as the loftiest: "Certain beetles have learned to detoxify [willow] leaves in their digestive tract so they can eat them with impunity" (Smithsonian, September 1986).
Webster's Dictionary
Fun facts
  1. The most common name for a pet goldfish is 'Jaws.'
  2. The average American will eat 35,000 cookies in his/her lifetime.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
George Cruikshank
Sep 27, 1792 - Feb 1, 1878

George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
May 5, 1747 - Mar 1, 1792

Leopold II was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria from 1790 to 1792, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was the earliest opponent of capital punishment in modern history. He was a son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I, and the brother of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Maria Carolina of Austria and Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. Leopold was a moderate proponent of enlightened absolutism. He granted the Academy of Georgofili his protection. Despite his brief reign, he is highly regarded. The historian Paul W. Schroeder called him "one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown".

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Historic event
Brazilian Revolution of 1930
October 1930

The Revolution of 1930, also known as the 1930 coup d'état or coup of 1930 was an armed movement in Brazil led by the states of Minas Gerais, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Sul, culminating in a coup. The revolution ousted President Washington Luís on October 24, 1930, prevented the inauguration of President-elect Júlio Prestes, and ended the Old Republic.

In 1929, leaders of São Paulo broke the alliance with the mineiros, known as the "coffee with milk policy", and indicated the paulista Júlio Prestes as a candidate for the presidency. In response, the President of Minas Gerais, Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada, supported the opposition candidate from the south, Getúlio Vargas.

On March 1, 1930, elections for President were held and victory was won by the government's candidate, Júlio Prestes, who was the president of São Paulo state. However, he did not take office because the coup was triggered on October 3, 1930; he was instead exiled.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture