Nature abhors the old, and old age seems the only disease; all others run into this one.

Truth is the summit of being; justice is the application of it to affairs.

Men may keep a sort of level of good, but no man has ever been able to keep on one level of evil.

Definition: (adjective) Not suitable for food. Synonyms: uneatable. Usage: Though it may look delicious, plastic fruit is inedible and should be used for display only.

Definition: (noun) The act or art of swimming or floating on water. Synonyms: floating. Usage: Prolonged natation will cause the skin on your hands and feet to swell and wrinkle.

Definition: (noun) Personal independence. Synonyms: self-direction, self-sufficiency, autonomy. Usage: I should have thought you had learned self-reliance on Berande, instead of needing to lean upon the moral support of every whisky-guzzling worthless South Sea vagabond.

As a priest and a professor, Gassendi lectured on theology in his native southeastern France. However, as a philosopher, scientist, and astronomer, he was compelled to try to reconcile his scientific beliefs with the teachings of the church. Dissatisfied with the teachings of Aristotle, he came to espouse empiricism and atomism, the belief that tiny, indestructible particles form the basic building blocks of the entire universe. In 1631, he became the first person to observe what?

In 1858, Jex-Blake enrolled in college against the wishes of her parents. She struggled to find a medical school that would accept women, and though she persuaded the University of Edinburgh to admit her, she could not graduate. She took her fight to Parliament, which passed a law enabling women to receive medical degrees. Jex-Blake founded two medical schools for women, and, after obtaining her degree in 1877, became the third female doctor in the UK. What became of her Edinburgh home?

Though Malcolm and Allan Loughead attended only elementary school, the mechanically gifted brothers built their first airplane in 1913. Malcolm soon left the industry, but Allan persisted. Though several of his aircraft companies failed, his name—with the spelling changed to Lockheed—would eventually be connected to one of the world's largest aerospace manufacturers. Who once turned down a flight in Lockheed's first plane by saying he would not fly in any plane "for all the money in California"?

Perpetrated by Portuguese criminal Alves dos Reis, the Portuguese Bank Note Crisis was one of the largest frauds in history. In 1924, Reis forged a contract that fooled a legitimate print company into printing illegitimate banknotes for him. By the time his scheme was revealed, Reis had introduced into circulation banknotes equivalent to nearly 1% of Portugal's gross domestic product at the time, causing widespread economic and political repercussions. How did he initially cover up his scam?

Murder, Inc., is the name given by the press to the band of professional killers who operated throughout the US in the 1930s and 40s as the enforcement arm of the Syndicate, a confederation of organized crime groups. Allegedly protected by corrupt politicians, they were able to commit well over 100 murders before law enforcement authorities launched a campaign against the mob that resulted in a number of convictions and executions. Who were some of the notorious members of Murder, Inc.?

Known as "the Blond Knight Of Germany," Erich Hartmann was the World War II Luftwaffe pilot now recognized as the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial combat. A master of stalk-and-ambush tactics, Hartmann scored 352 victories in 1,404 combat missions and was never shot down or forced to land due to enemy fire. During the war, Russians nicknamed him “Black Devil" due to the black tulip design he had added to his plane. Why was his plane sometimes lent to novice pilots?