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March 21, 2023
Mar 21, 2023
Word
perennial
adjective
Definition
  1. present at all seasons of the year
  2. continuing to live from year to year
  3. recurring regularly : permanent
Example
The diva's late-night partying and angry run-ins with the paparazzi have been perennial fodder for the tabloids.
Origin
Nowadays when we talk about "perennial plants," or simply "perennials" ("perennial" can be a noun, too), we mean plants that die back seasonally but produce new growth in the spring. But originally "perennial" was equivalent to "evergreen," used for plants that remain with us all year. We took this "throughout the year" sense straight from the Romans, whose Latin "perennis" combined "per-" ("throughout") with a form of "annus" ("year"). The poet Ovid, writing around the beginning of the first millennium, used the Latin word to refer to a "perennial spring" (water source), and the scholar Pliny used it of birds that don't migrate. Our "perennial" retains these same uses, for streams and occasionally for birds, but it has long had extended meanings, too.
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
make hay while the sun shines
Take advantage of favorable circumstances, as in Car sales have finally improved so we're making hay while the sun shines. This expression alludes to optimum dry weather for cutting grass. [Early 1500s]
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. Three out of every six Americans live within fifty miles of where they were born.
  2. Double Dutch jump rope is considered a cross-training sport.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Giuseppe Castiglione
Jul 19, 1688 - Jul 17, 1766

Giuseppe Castiglione, S.J., was an Italian Jesuit brother and missionary in China, where he served as an artist at the imperial court of three emperors – the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. He painted in a style that is a fusion of European and Chinese traditions.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Lee Myung-bak
Born Dec 19, 1941

Lee Myung-bak is a former South Korean politician and businessman who served as President of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his election as president, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, as well as the mayor of Seoul from 1 July 2002, to 30 June 2006. He is married to Kim Yoon-ok and has three daughters and one son. His older brother, Lee Sang-deuk, is a South Korean politician. He attends the Somang Presbyterian Church. Lee is a graduate of Korea University and received an honorary degree from Paris Diderot University on 13 May 2011.

Lee altered the South Korean government's approach to North Korea, preferring a more hardline strategy in the wake of increased provocation from the North, though he was supportive of regional dialogue with Russia, China and Japan. Under Lee, South Korea increased its visibility and influence in the global scene, resulting in the hosting of the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit. However, significant controversy remains in Korea regarding high-profile government initiatives which have caused some factions to engage in civil opposition and protest against the incumbent government and President Lee's Saenuri Party.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
Constitutionalist Revolution
Jul 9, 1932 - Oct 2, 1932

The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 is the name given to the uprising of the population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo against the 1930 coup d'état when Getúlio Vargas forcibly assumed the nation's Presidency; Vargas was supported by the military and the political elites of Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraíba. The movement grew out of local resentment from the fact that Vargas ruled by decree, unbound by a Constitution, in a provisional government. The 1930 coup also affected São Paulo by eroding the autonomy that states enjoyed during the term of the 1891 Constitution and preventing the inauguration of the governor of São Paulo Júlio Prestes in the Presidency of the Republic, while simultaneously overthrowing President Washington Luís, who was governor of São Paulo from 1920 to 1924. These events marked the end of the First Republic. Vargas appointed a northeasterner as governor of São Paulo.

The Revolution's main goal was to press the provisional government headed by Getúlio Vargas to adopt and then abide by a new Constitution, since the elected President Prestes was kept from taking office.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Quote
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great makes you feel that you, too, can become great.
Mark Twain