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

August 25, 2026
Aug 25, 2026
Word
cognate
adjective
Definition
  1. of the same or similar nature
  2. related; especially : related by descent from the same ancestral language
Example
Sean is a professor of astronomy whose background includes extensive work in the cognate fields of mathematics and physics.
Origin
The story of "cognate" is all relative: that is, it's all about relatives. Cognate words share an ancestor, like "allude" and "prelude" (which both trace to the Latin root "ludere") and the English "brother" and the German "Bruder" (which are both related to the Greek "phrater"). Cognate languages, like French, Spanish, and Italian, descend from the same ancestral language. People related through a common ancestor are cognate, and groups of people, such as tribes, can be cognate to one another. "Cognate" also describes things related in a more figurative way, as in "cognate developments," "cognate disciplines," or "cognate problems." "Cognate" itself comes from the Latin "cognatus" which traces to Latin "nasci" meaning "to be born." Some words cognate to "cognate" include "innate," "nascent," "native," and "Renaissance."
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
fifth wheel
An extra and unnecessary person or thing, as in He was the only one without a date, so he felt like a fifth wheel. This expression, which alludes to an unneeded wheel on a four-wheel vehicle, may have originated as long ago as 1631, when Thomas Dekker wrote Match Me in London: "Thou tiest but wings to a swift gray Hounds heel, And addest to a running Chariot a fifth wheel."
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. Thomas Edison coined the word "hello" and introduced it as a way to answer the phone.
  2. The only bird who can see the color blue is the owl.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Frank Cho
Born Dec 2, 1971

Frank Cho, born Duk Hyun Cho, is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series Liberty Meadows, as well as for books such as Shanna the She-Devil, Mighty Avengers and Hulk for Marvel Comics, and Jungle Girl for Dynamite Entertainment. Cho is noted for his figure drawing, precise lines, and depiction of well-endowed women.

Learn more »
Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Jesse H. Jones
Apr 5, 1874 - Jun 1, 1956

Jesse Holman Jones was an American Democratic politician and entrepreneur from Houston, Texas. Jones managed a Tennessee tobacco factory at age fourteen, and at nineteen, he was put in charge of his uncle's lumberyards. Five years later, after his uncle, M. T. Jones, died, Jones moved to Houston to manage his uncle's estate and opened a lumberyard company, which grew quickly. During this period, Jesse opened his own business, the South Texas Lumber Company. He also began to expand into real estate, commercial building, and banking. His commercial building activities in Houston included mid-rise and skyscraper office buildings, hotels and apartments, and movie theaters. He constructed the Foster Building, home to the Houston Chronicle, in exchange for a fifty percent share in the newspaper, of which he acquired control in 1926.

Jones's participation in civic life and politics began with the Port of Houston and the Houston Ship Channel. He led a group of local bankers in buying public finance bonds and was later appointed to serve as the Chair of the Houston Harbor Board. He led a local fundraising effort on behalf of the American Red Cross in support of servicemen in World War I.

Learn more »
Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
White Friday

White Friday occurred during the Italian Front of World War I, when an avalanche struck an Austrian barracks on Mount Marmolada, killing 270 soldiers. Other avalanches the same day struck Italian and other Austrian positions, killing hundreds. According to some reports both sides deliberately fired shells into the weakened snowpacks in an attempt to bury the other side.

An accurate estimation of the number of casualties from the White Friday avalanches is not available. Historical documents suggest at least 2,000 victims among the soldiers and a few dozens among civilians.

The date 13 December, marked Saint Lucia, a commemorative religious holiday practiced by the majority of Italian Catholics. Though the occurrence of avalanches in the Dolomites Mountains took place on a Wednesday in 1916, the term "White Friday" was used to coin the disastrous day.

Learn more »
Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture