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August 15, 2026
Aug 15, 2026
Word
regardless
adverb
Definition
despite everything
Example
The weather forecast called for wind and rain, but Susan decided to continue with her plans regardless.
Origin
"Regardless" is rather simply derived from the noun "regard" (meaning "attention" or "concern") plus "-less" -- nothing too shocking about that. But poor "regardless" became embroiled in a usage scandal through no fault of its own when people began using "irregardless" as its synonym (probably blending "irrespective" and "regardless"). "Irregardless" originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century, and usage commentators have been decrying it since the 1920s, often declaring "there is no such word." "Irregardless" does exist, of course, but it tends to be used primarily in speech and it is still considered nonstandard. "Regardless" is greatly preferred.
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
couch potato
A person who incessantly watches television to the exclusion of more active pursuits. The potato may either allude to an inert vegetable or be a play on boob tuber, slang for a television watcher (a potato being a tuber). It also may allude to the person's consumption of junk food such as potato chips while watching. [1970s]
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. Lobsters can live up to 50 years.
  2. Of the 92 counties in Indiana, only 5 observe daylight savings time.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Maximilien Luce
Mar 13, 1858 - Feb 6, 1941

Maximilien Luce was a prolific French Neo-impressionist artist, known for his paintings, illustrations, engravings, and graphic art, and also for his anarchist activism. Starting as an engraver, he then concentrated on painting, first as an Impressionist, then as a Pointillist, and finally returning to Impressionism.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Hjalmar Schacht
Jan 22, 1877 - Jun 3, 1970

Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht was a German economist, banker, centre-right politician, and co-founder in 1918 of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank under the Weimar Republic. He was a fierce critic of his country's post-World War I reparation obligations.

He served in Adolf Hitler's government as President of the National Bank 1933–1939 and became Minister of Economics.

While Schacht was for a time feted for his role in the German "economic miracle", he opposed Hitler's policy of German re-armament insofar as it violated the Treaty of Versailles and disrupted the German economy. His views in this regard led Schacht to clash with Hitler and most notably with Hermann Göring. He was dismissed as President of the Reichsbank in January 1939. He remained as a minister without portfolio, and received the same salary, until he was fully dismissed from the government in January 1943.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
May 68

Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, and the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which have since become known as May 68, the economy of France came to a halt. The protests reached such a point that political leaders feared civil war or revolution; the national government briefly ceased to function after President Charles de Gaulle secretly fled France to Germany at one point. The protests spurred movements worldwide, with songs, imaginative graffiti, posters, and slogans.

The unrest began with a series of student occupation protests against capitalism, consumerism, American imperialism and traditional institutions. Heavy police repression of the protesters led France's trade union confederations to call for sympathy strikes, which spread far more quickly than expected to involve 11 million workers, more than 22% of the total population of France at the time.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture