Published in 1604, Robert Cawdrey’s “Table Alphabeticall” was the first dictionary of the English language. Its 3,000 or so entries concentrated on words that Cawdrey determined to be difficult for uneducated people (women in particular) to comprehend. His simple definitions often were charming. Hospitality is defined as “good entertainment for friends and strangers.” Chaos is “a confused heap or mingle-mangle.” And a labyrinth is “a place so full of windings and turnings, that a man cannot find the way out of it.”
In the field of chaos theory, Edward Lorenz used what seemingly insignificant event to illustrate that infinitesimal changes in a system can have monumental consequences?
A) A butterfly flapping its wings
B) A raindrop rolling down a windowpane
C) A snake shedding its skin
D) A turtle blinking its eye
Previous answer: Before baking, bread dough may be placed in a proofing drawer to allow it to rise.
TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of “Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts.” Contact her at [email protected]
