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June 17, 2026
Jun 17, 2026
Word
instauration
noun
Definition
  1. restoration after decay, lapse, or dilapidation
  2. an act of instituting or establishing something
Example
"Once, humanity dreamed of the great instauration - a rebirth of ancient wisdom that would compel us into a New Age...." - From an article by Knute Berger in the Seattle Weekly, December 14, 2005
Origin
"Instauration" first appeared in English in the early 17th century, a product of the Latin verb "instaurare," meaning "to renew or restore." This same source gave us our verb "store," by way of Middle English and Anglo-French. Less than 20 years after "instauration" broke into English, the philosopher Francis Bacon began writing his Instauratio Magna, which translates to The Great Instauration. This uncompleted collection of works, which was written in Latin, calls for a restoration to a state of paradise on earth, but one in which mankind is enlightened by knowledge and truth.
Webster's Dictionary
Idiom
hell's half acre
A wild, desolate, dangerous place. The term originated in the American West, where numerous localities used it as a place name. It appears in the titles of a number of books, both fiction and nonfiction, about such places in the West. It also has been transferred to other bad situations, as in Avis D. Schorer's book, A Half Acre of Hell: A Combat Nurse in WWII (2000). [Slang, 1860s]
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
Fun facts
  1. Googol is a number (1 followed by 100 zeros).
  2. The largest cheesecake ever made weighed 57,508 lbs.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Sebald Beham
1500 - Nov 22, 1550

Sebald Beham was a German painter and printmaker, mainly known for his very small engravings. Born in Nuremberg, he spent the later part of his career in Frankfurt. He was one of the most important of the "Little Masters", the group of German artists making prints in the generation after Dürer.

His name is often given as Hans Sebald Beham, although there is no documentary evidence that he ever used this additional forename.

He produced approximately 252 engravings, 18 etchings and 1500 woodcuts, including woodcut book illustrations. He worked extensively on tiny, highly detailed, engravings, many as small as postage stamps, placing him in the German printmaking school known as the "Little Masters" from the size of their prints. These works he printed and published himself, while his much larger woodcuts were mostly commissioned work. The engravings found a ready market among German bourgeois collectors. He also made prints for use as playing cards and wallpaper.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Kirsty Duncan
Born Oct 31, 1966

Kirsty Ellen Duncan PC MP is a Canadian politician and medical geographer from Ontario, Canada. Duncan is the Member of Parliament for the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North and Duncan serves as deputy leader of the government in the House of Commons. Duncan has previously served as minister of science and minister of sport and persons with disabilities. She has published a book about her 1998 expedition to uncover the cause of the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
Mexican Revolution
Nov 20, 1910 - 1924

The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle, lasting roughly from 1910 to 1920, that transformed Mexican culture and government. Although recent research has focused on local and regional aspects of the revolution, it was a genuinely national revolution. Its outbreak in 1910 resulted from the failure of the 31-year-long regime of Porfirio Díaz to find a managed solution to presidential succession. This meant there was a political crisis among competing elites and the opportunity for agrarian insurrection. Wealthy landowner Francisco I. Madero challenged Díaz in the 1910 presidential election, and following the rigged results, revolted under the Plan of San Luis Potosí. Armed conflict broke out in northern Mexico and Díaz was forced out. In the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez, Díaz resigned and went into exile, new elections were to occur in the fall, and an interim presidency under Francisco León de la Barra was installed. A new election was held in 1911, bringing Madero to the presidency.

The origins of the conflict were broadly based in opposition to the Díaz regime, with the 1910 election becoming the catalyst for the outbreak of political rebellion.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture