EUROPEAN HISTORY IS A DOWNER
A lack of genetic diversity in this crop in 1840s Ireland was a major cause of disaster for the population
Potatos
An early depiction of a demon holding this customary farm implement is on a thousand-year-old high cross in County Louth, Ireland
Pitchfork
Sodium hydroxide, aka lye, is traditionally used to create the brown coating on these twisted German snacks
Pretzels
2-4-6-8, who do we this? It means to be grateful for! Or rise in value! Yay!
Appreciate
When Beyoncé headlined this California music festival in 2018, some called it "Beychella"
Coachella
The USSR's 1930s Great Purge included the notorious "show" type of these, with defendants forced to confess
Trials
The current king of Spain is named after Philip V (died 1746) but is more commonly known by this Spanish version of his name
Felipe
One theory for why tomatoes were thought to be poisonous--their acidity leached this toxic metal out of pewter plates
Lead
The "Hippie Dictionary" says it means "to see, understand ", as in "can you ___ it"?
Dig
This rainy city's music festival is fittingly named Bumbershoot, a slang word for an umbrella
Seattle
1950-51 in the Alps was the "Winter of Terror" as these disasters destroyed buildings & killed more than 200 people
Avalanches
Latin term for a law that makes an act illegal though it was legal back when it was done
Ex Post Facto
Pressure of about 135 pounds per square inch is needed to pop each popcorn kernel; the pressure comes from steam, created when this white carbohydrate is heated to around 400 degrees
Starch
Something very complicated & ornamental; does that "strike your" this? Or is it just a "passing" one?
Fancy
Perry Farrell claims he got the 5-syllable name for this long-running music festival from an episode of "The Three Stooges"
Lollapalooza
The Vatican had second thoughts about its treatment of heretic Giordano Bruno--400 years after he was executed this way
Burned At the Stake
These people lived up to their name when they sacked Rome in 455 A.D., tearing up the tiles of the Temple of Jupiter
Vandals
Around 10,000 years ago, human adults gained the ability to digest this milk sugar
Lactose
To venerate, say, a specific Revolutionary War nighttime equestrian
Revere
200,000 people crowd a Belgian town of 18,000 for Tomorrowland, a festival of EDM, short for this "music"
Electronic Dance Music
A secret Sicilian group fighting foreign invaders may be the origin of this notorious criminal group
The Mafia
His 1690 "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" argues for the "blank slate" view that all knowledge is from experience
John Locke
Mustard can act as one of these agents that allow oil & water to stay blended
Emulsifier
To hold a memory fondly in your mind, perhaps of the same-named 1989 Madonna hit
Cherish
This Tennessee music festival comes from a slang word on a Dr. John album title that means "the best on the streets"
Bonnaroo