HIDDEN STORIES OF WORDS
This word for a place where books are kept comes from the Latin word liber, meaning “book.”
What is a library?
Long before becoming president, George Washington worked professionally in this field involving land measurement.
What is surveying?
A rainbow traditionally displays this many colors.
What is seven?
This nurse became known as the “Lady with the Lamp” during the Crimean War.
Who is Florence Nightingale?
This famous leaning tower stands in an Italian city of the same name.
What is the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
This breakfast food gets its English name from the Latin phrase meaning “break the fast.”
What is breakfast?
During the California Gold Rush, this clothing item became popular because miners needed durable workwear.
What are blue jeans?
Water freezes at this temperature on the Celsius scale.
What is 0 degrees Celsius?
This Polish-born scientist became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
Who is Marie Curie?
This massive statue overlooks Rio de Janeiro from Mount Corcovado.
What is Christ the Redeemer?
This word for a person who travels for pleasure comes from a Latin word meaning “turn.”
What is tourist?
Ancient Egyptians used a paste containing crushed minerals to clean these.
What are their teeth?
This force keeps planets in orbit around the Sun.
What is gravity?
This civil-rights activist refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955
Who is Rosa Parks?
This ancient amphitheatre in Rome once hosted gladiatorial contests.
What is the Colosseum?
This word meaning fear of foreigners comes from Greek words for “stranger” and “fear.”
What is xenophobia?
In medieval Europe, books were sometimes chained to these pieces of furniture to prevent theft.
What are desks or lecterns?
A metal spoon feels colder than a wooden spoon in the same room because metal conducts this more efficiently.
What is heat?
This aviator became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Who is Amelia Earhart?
This enormous temple complex in Cambodia appears on the country's national flag.
What is Angkor Wat?
The word “alphabet” takes its name from the first two letters of this ancient writing system.
What is the Greek alphabet?
The shortest war commonly recorded in history, fought in 1896, involved Britain and this East African sultanate.
What is Zanzibar?
The blue color of the daytime sky is largely caused by the scattering of this part of sunlight.
What is blue light?
This mathematician's work on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine led her to be called the first computer programmer.
Who is Ada Lovelace?
This ancient city in Peru sits high in the Andes and was built by the Inca.
What is Machu Picchu?