Words! Words! Words!

Several momentous items to mention for today’s date: Daniel Defoe’s fictional work The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719. The book, about a shipwrecked sailor who spends 28 years on a deserted island, is based on the experiences of shipwreck victims and of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who spent four years on a small island off the coast of South America in the early 1700s. Ground was broken for the Suez Canal in 1859. And the beautiful Ginger Rogers died in 1995. Dance your way to fame and fortune, avoid disaster, and dig our vocabulary test today!

On this date in 1775, British troops marched out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriot William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Minutemen. While today’s words are seemingly unrelated to our subject, the discerning reader will get them all right nevertheless, as long as you had a competent fifth-grade teacher who boldly made you and your fellow students recite the classics!

On this day in 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba. As we consider some French words and concepts, among other things, see if your vocabulary skills will keep you from being banished to le grand couloir de dictionnaires.

On this day in 1975, at a time when most Americans were using typewriters, childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft, a company that makes computer software. Originally based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Microsoft relocated to Washington State in 1979 and eventually grew into a major multinational technology corporation. See how your vocabulary skills compute today.

On this day in 1834, President Andrew Jackson was censured by Congress for refusing to turn over confidential documents dealing with his cabinet meetings. Jackson was the first president to suffer this formal disapproval from Congress. Take our vocab test and see if Merriam or Webster should censure you today.

On this day in 1871, journalist Henry Morton Stanley began his famous search through Africa for the missing British explorer Dr. David Livingstone. If you think you might be lost in the wilderness some day, be sure to pack a good pocket dictionary and magnifying glass in your pack. You can learn new words in your down time, and the pages will come in handy for starting signal fires with the glass. Meanwhile, let’s see how much of an explorer you are when it comes to strange, new words.

On March 14, 1879, Albert Einstein was born. It’s also Pie Day. One day, little Albert came home from school and his papa asked “What did you learn today?” “In my geometry class, I learned pi r squared,” answered Albert. “Dumbkopf!” said his papa, “pie are round. Cornbread’s square.” Make mine blueberry and we’ll eat it at the speed of light while you try today’s vocabulary quiz.

Aristotle, the ancient Greek, is still considered the greatest teacher and philosopher of all time. He died on this date in 322 B.C. Or did he? Take our word quiz and see if Aristotle still lives on…in you.

On February 28, 1861, with the region’s population booming because of the Pike’s Peak gold rush, Congress creates the new Territory of Colorado. When the United States acquired it after the Mexican War ended in 1848, the land that would one day become Colorado was nearly unpopulated by Anglo settlers. Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and other Indians had occupied the land for centuries, but the Europeans who had made sporadic appearances there since the 17th century never stayed for long. It was not until 1851 that the first permanent non-Indian settlement was established, in the San Luis Valley.

Try your mountaineering and prospecting word skills out today. 

On this date in 1948, NASCAR was founded. Contrary to the thinking of some, “NASCAR” is not how you say “Nice car” in Southernese. It’s short for National Association of Stock Car Racing. Let’s see how fast you can make it around the track in today’s vocabulary quiz.