Smartful
Learn something every day
Word
Idiom
Fun facts
Artist
Historical figure
Historic event

September 11, 2026
Sep 11, 2026
Word
friable
adjective
Definition
easily crumbled or pulverized
Example
These plants will grow best in a soft, friable soil.
Origin
"Friable" entered into English in the mid-1500s, and was borrowed either from Middle French or directly from Latin "friabilis." This Latin adjective comes from the verb "friare," which means "to crumble." "Fiare" in turn is related to the verb "fricare" ("to rub"), the source of the English noun "friction." "Friable" is used to describe something that can be easily reduced to a powdered form. In contemporary usage, it is often found in the discussion of asbestos. Health concerns about asbestos primarily center around friable asbestos -- that is, asbestos that is easily pulverized into tiny fibers which may remain suspended in the air and become a potential health risk to those who inhale them.
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
left-handed compliment
Also, backhanded compliment. An insult in the guise of an expression of praise. For example, She said she liked my hair, but it turned out to be a left-handed compliment when she asked how long I'd been dyeing it. This expression uses left-handed in the sense of "questionable or doubtful," a usage dating from about 1600.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. Sea otters hold each other's paws while sleeping so they don't drift apart.
  2. To make a zipper slide up and down more smoothly, rub a bar of soap over the teeth.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Stradanus
1523 - Feb 11, 1605

Stradanus, Johannes Stradanus, Jan van der Straet or Giovanni Stradano was a Flemish artist active mainly in 16th-century Florence, Italy. He was a wide-ranging talent who worked as an easel and fresco painter, designer of tapestries, draughtsman, designer of prints and pottery decorator. His subject range was varied and included history subjects, mythological scenes, allegories, landscapes, genre scenes, portraits, architectural scenes and animals. After training in his native Flanders, he left his home country and ultimately settled down in Florence, Italy. He became a prominent court artist to the Medici during the second half of the 16th century and worked on the many decorative projects of the court. Stradanus also produced large altarpieces for the most important churches in Florence.

He was a prolific designer of prints which were circulated widely throughout Europe for many centuries. Through his knowledge of Florentine and Italian art and his international contacts with engravers and editors in Antwerp, Stradanus contributed to the development of printmaking.

Learn more »
Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
William Green
Mar 3, 1873 - Nov 21, 1952

William B. Green was an American trade union leader. Green is best remembered as the president of the American Federation of Labor from 1924 to 1952. He was a strong supporter for labor-management co-operation and was on the frontline for wage and benefit protections and industrial unionism legislation.

As president of the AFL, he continued the development of the federation away from the foundations of "pure and simple unionism" to a more politically active "social reform unionism."

Learn more »
Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow

The scuttling of the German fleet took place at the Royal Navy's base at Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, shortly after the First World War. The High Seas Fleet was interned there under the terms of the Armistice whilst negotiations took place over the fate of the ships. Fearing that all of the ships would be seized and divided amongst the Allies, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter decided to scuttle the fleet.

The scuttling was carried out on 21 June 1919. Intervening British guard ships were able to beach a number of the ships, but 52 of the 74 interned vessels sank. Many of the wrecks were salvaged over the next two decades and were towed away for scrapping. Those that remain are popular diving sites. The ships are the world's primary source of low-background steel.

Learn more »
Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture