Word: ancient
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...ancient stargazers, comets (from the Greek for hairy star) were signs of heavenly displeasure. Actually, they are stray bits of debris, largely ice and dust, left over from the formation of the sun and its family of planets nearly 5 billion years ago. Skywatchers around the world got a rare chance last week to view such a dirty celestial snowball close up, at least by astronomical standards. The surprise visitor from deep space swept to within 2.9 million miles of earth, the nearest approach by a comet in two centuries...
...Dartmouth College the spring equivalent of Winter Carnival. Green Key Weekend, was celebrated with customary abandon Fraternities gathered to match musical ability in an afternoon long melody contest known as the campus hums" and student drivers piloted chariots pulled by companions in a traditional "recreation" of the ancient Greek races...
...forger's determination to deceive by mimicking the writing of others. When a pharaoh first fashioned a seal to protect the identity of his scribblings, a forger lurked with intent to melt, alter and reseal. Around the 5th century B.C. the Athenian poet Onomakritos was expelled from that ancient city for tampering with the oracles of Musaeus. His crime, unlike those of most forgers, had an unintended benefit. Thereafter, whenever a prophecy failed to materialize, the oracle could angrily proclaim that the prediction had been concocted by that forging scoundrel Onomakritos...
...caffeine battles, of course, are merely the latest skirmishes in the ancient war between Coke and Pepsi. Coca-Cola, which makes Sprite, Fresca, Mello Yello and other brands in addition to Coke and TAB, leads all soft-drink producers, with some 36% of the total market. Pepsi brands, including Mountain Dew, have about 25%. But although regular Coke is still the bestselling soft drink, it has lost some ground to Pepsi since the early 1970s (see chart...
...gastronomical specialties (in this case, Roquefort) are as keen and winning as her insights into her characters. Most engaging is the 100-year-old Pépé, who after meals recites obscure La Fontaine fables and sings joyously while his lone tooth shines "unashamedly in his strong ancient face...