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March 15, 2026
Mar 15, 2026
Word
callow
adjective
Definition
lacking adult sophistication : immature
Example
"Back when I was a callow college student," said Emma, "I paid little attention to the advice given to me by my professors."
Origin
You might not expect a relationship between "callow" and baldness, but that connection does in fact exist. "Callow" comes from "calu," a word that meant "bald" in Middle English and Old English. By the 17th century, "callow" had come to mean "without feathers" and was applied to young birds not yet ready for flight. The term was also used for those who hadn't yet spread their wings in a figurative sense. "Callow" continues to mean "inexperienced" or "unsophisticated" today.
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
hide one's light under a bushel
Show extreme modesty, as in Even after Paul won the scholarship he went on hiding his light under a bushel. This expression, which does not necessarily express approval of this behavior, has its origin in the New Testament (Matthew 5:15): "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick." [Early 1600s]
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. Bees are born fully grown.
  2. Chameleons can move both their eyes in different directions at the same time.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Samuel Morse
Apr 27, 1791 - Apr 2, 1872

Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs. He was a co-developer of Morse code and helped to develop the commercial use of telegraphy.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Sejanus
19 BC - 31 AD

Lucius Aelius Sejanus, commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. An equestrian by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, of which he was commander from AD 14 until his death in AD 31.

While the Praetorian Guard was formally established under Emperor Augustus, Sejanus introduced a number of reforms which saw the unit evolve beyond a mere bodyguard, into a powerful and influential branch of the government involved in public security, civil administration and ultimately political intercession; these changes would have a lasting impact on the course of the Principate.

During the 20s, Sejanus gradually accumulated power by consolidating his influence over Tiberius and eliminating potential political opponents, including the emperor's son Drusus Julius Caesar. When Tiberius withdrew to Capri in AD 26, Sejanus was left in control of the administration of the empire. For a time the most influential and feared citizen of Rome, Sejanus suddenly fell from power in AD 31, the year his career culminated with the consulship.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
Battle of Amiens
Aug 8, 1918 - Aug 11, 1918

The Battle of Amiens, also known as the Third Battle of Picardy, was the opening phase of the Allied offensive which began on 8 August 1918, later known as the Hundred Days Offensive, that ultimately led to the end of the First World War. Allied forces advanced over 11 kilometres on the first day, one of the greatest advances of the war, with Gen Henry Rawlinson's British Fourth Army playing the decisive role. The battle is also notable for its effects on both sides' morale and the large number of surrendering German forces. This led Erich Ludendorff to later describe the first day of the battle as "the black day of the German Army". Amiens was one of the first major battles involving armoured warfare.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Quote
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.
Marcel Proust