Word: began
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...When I began the piece, I was well aware of the great when-does-the-decade-begin controversy, which I remembered from the days of Y2K. Back then, most folks seemed to consider the past decade over on Dec. 31, 1999, so it made sense to me to use that benchmark for this decade as well. The editors here agreed with me. Given the name of the magazine, don't they deserve a little license...
...Montazeri's transformation is a microcosm of Iran's revolutionary experience, and the evolving split among the clerics. "Montazeri began as a radical and a principle architect of the system of government that placed so much power in the hands of the Supreme Leader," said Shaul Bakhash, author of The Reign of the Ayatollahs. In the 1980s, he was also patron of the World Islamic Movement, a group committed to exporting Iran's revolution. His son Mohammad trained with the PLO in Lebanon...
...bluntness, Montazeri has lived under virtual house arrest since 1997, when his religious school was alsoclosed down. His office has occasionally been attacked; religious vigilantes once smeared "Heretic of the Age" across his wall, and guards were often posted outside to cut off contacts. But in 2000, he began using the Internet to reach beyond his jailers, corresponding with other clerics and supporters seeking his rulings...
...comes from a different tradition altogether, albeit a similarly ancient one. In England, the word wassail - derived from the Old Norse ves heill meaning "be well, and in good health" - came to mean the wishing of good fortune on your neighbors. No one is quite sure when the custom began, but it did give us the song, "Here We Come-A-Wassailing" - sung as carolers wished good cheer to their neighbors in hopes of getting a gift in return. ("A Wassailing" also evolved into the popular "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - its last verse, "Bring us some figgy pudding...
...traditions of singing and visiting first merged in Victorian England, as church carols began to merge with Christian folk music. At that time, it was far from a Christmas tradition; festivals like May Day were deemed worthy of caroling, too, but the repertoire as well as early records of this are pretty unclear. In the 19th Century, as Christmas became more commercialized and popular, publishers began churning out anthologies of carols, many which were ancient hymns, also circulating them in broadsheets...