Champagne has been associated with luxury, special occasions, and rites of passage since the days of French royalty when kings were anointed with bubbly.
Where did this festive libation get its name?
Champagne is a sparkling wine made from three types of grapes: CONTINUE READING »
Still slogging through your kids’ excess Halloween stash? You’ve probably begun to wonder what the names on many of those wrappers mean. Here’s the meaning behind the names of a few popular (and chocolately) confections.
• Forest Mars, Sr. saw soldiers eating hard-shelled chocolates during the Spanish Civil War, inspiring the mass production of CONTINUE READING »
When the Spanish first began exploring the Pacific Coast of North America, they mistakenly believed that California was an island. (Some of the earliest and most fascinating maps of the state depict it as separated from the mainland.) This is considered one of the greatest, albeit short-lived, cartographic errors.
Early mapmakers began labeling the “island” as California, the name CONTINUE READING »
In one of the most famous culinary moments ever written down, Eve convinces Adam to share an apple with her in the Garden of Eden. Right? Well, not exactly.
Adam and Eve did bite into a fruit. But the Book of Genesis does not explicitly say which fruit. It could have been an apple. Or, as early depictions suggest, it could have been a pomegranate.
Up until the 17th century, the word CONTINUE READING »
In the U.S., the word “boxing” usually refers to two athletes stepping into a padded ring, each having the intention of knocking the other off his feet.
Also in the U.S., the holiday known as Boxing Day is generally obscure. In Britain, the celebration is ubiquitous. Let’s spend a minute with the origin of the “box” in the pugilistic sense of boxing. The brutal sport most likely gets its name from the Germanic word boke, “a blow.” Rest assured that the day after Christmas has nothing to do with bopping CONTINUE READING »
Frothy, creamy eggnog is a favorite beverage this time of year. Flavored with cinnamon or nutmeg, this winter drink is made with milk, sugar, and eggs. Usually an alcohol, like rum, is added.
The “egg” in eggnog is obvious, but you may not know that a different word almost beat out “egg” to mean the things that chickens lay. Find CONTINUE READING »
The lyric from “Deck the Halls” goes “Troll the ancient Yule-tide carol.” Amidst all the fa la la-ing, did you ever ask yourself exactly what Yule-tide is?
Yule is the ancient name in the Germanic lunar calendar for a winter festival corresponding to December and January. Later, Yule referred CONTINUE READING »
Perhaps you’ve received a widely circulated email that begins with this nonsensical sentence:
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The boggling thing about the sentence is that even though the words are scrambled, you can read it. It makes sense. Do you have an CONTINUE READING »
If you celebrate Christmas, it’s likely that at some point this season you’ll find yourself puckering up under a mistletoe branch. What is the tradition of kissing under a plant all about? And does the name have anything to do with human toes?
Mistletoe is a European plant that grows parasitically on trees. The CONTINUE READING »
The winter solstice lasts for just one moment. It occurs exactly when the Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun. This usually happens around December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere or June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. The solstice of 2010 is also marked by a full moon and an adjoining lunar eclipse that will make the moon look reddish in a cloudless sky. What exactly is an eclipse, and why will the moon look CONTINUE READING »