Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
Black"bird*ing, n.
1. The kidnaping of negroes or Polynesians to be sold as slaves.
2. The act or practice of collecting natives of the islands near Queensland for service on the Queensland sugar plantations. [Australia]
Black"bird, n. (Zoöl.)
Definition: In England, a species of thrush (Turdus merula), a singing bird with a fin note; the merle. In America the name is given to several birds, as the Quiscalus versicolor, or crow blackbird; the Agelæus phoeniceus, or red-winged blackbird; the cowbird; the rusty grackle, etc. See Redwing.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
13 January 2025
(noun) the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid); “a good soak put life back in the wagon”
Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.