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February 24, 2026
Feb 24, 2026
Word
nocebo
noun
Definition
a harmless substance that when taken by a patient is associated with harmful effects due to negative expectations or the psychological condition of the patient
Example
Patients given the nocebo reported mild to severe headaches.
Origin
"Nocent" has been in the English language as a word for "harmful" since the 15th century. It comes from Latin "nocēre," meaning "to harm." Latin "nocebo" is a close relative that means "I will be harmful" and that contrasts with "placebo," meaning "I shall please." People in medicine began using "placebo" for inert preparations prescribed solely for a patient's mental relief, and not for relieving a disorder, in the late 18th century. As doctors began to observe the effects of placebos, some noticed that the harmless preparations actually sometimes caused detrimental effects on the patient's health. English speakers began using the word "nocebo" for substances causing such adverse reactions in patients in 1961.
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
by hook or crook
By any means possible, in one way or another. For example, The car broke down, but I'll get there by hook or crook. This term has a disputed origin. A widely held theory is that it comes from the custom of allowing commoners to take as much wood from royal forests as they could reach with a shepherd's crook and cut down with a billhook. [1300s]
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. The dragonfly can reach speeds of up to 36 mph.
  2. Mosquitoes are attracted to people who just ate bananas.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Victor Vasarely
Apr 9, 1906 - Mar 15, 1997

Victor Vasarely, was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement.

His work entitled Zebra, created in the 1930s, is considered by some to be one of the earliest examples of Op art.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Desmond Tutu
Born Oct 7, 1931

Desmond Mpilo Tutu OMSG CH GCStJ is a South African Anglican cleric and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was the Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then the Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from black theology with African theology.

Tutu was born of mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage to a poor family in Klerksdorp, Union of South Africa. Entering adulthood, he trained as a teacher and married Nomalizo Leah Tutu, with whom he had several children. In 1960, he was ordained as an Anglican priest and in 1962 moved to the United Kingdom to study theology at King's College London. In 1966 he returned to southern Africa, teaching at the Federal Theological Seminary and then the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. In 1972, he became the Theological Education Fund's director for Africa, a position based in London but necessitating regular tours of the African continent.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
Operation Market Garden
Sep 17, 1944 - Sep 25, 1944

Operation Market Garden was a failed World War II military operation fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 25 September 1944. It was the brainchild of Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery and strongly supported by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. The airborne part of the operation was undertaken by the First Allied Airborne Army with the land operation by XXX Corps of the British Second Army. The objective was to create a 64 mi salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, creating an Allied invasion route into northern Germany. This was to be achieved by seizing a series of nine bridges by Airborne forces with land forces swiftly following over the bridges. The operation succeeded in liberating the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen along with many towns, creating a 60 mi salient into German-held territory limiting V-2 rocket launching sites. It failed, however, to secure a bridgehead over the Rhine, with the advance being halted at the river.

Market Garden consisted of two sub-operations:

Market – an airborne assault to seize key bridges, and;

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Quote
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
Mark Twain