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DEFINITION: (adjective) Given to or characterized by impishness or playfulness. SYNONYMS: arch, impish, mischievous, pixilated, puckish, wicked. USAGE: The principal met with my parents to discuss strategies for subduing my prankish nature and disruptive classroom behavior.

Henry VIII, a monarch famed for having married six times, wed his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, in 1540. He found her entirely unattractive, privately describing her as a "Flanders Mare," and soon decided to annul the marriage. Anne wisely cooperated, testifying that their union had never been consummated. Just four years earlier, Henry had his second wife, Anne Boleyn, executed after she failed to produce a male heir. How was Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, related to Anne Boleyn?

DEFINITION: (verb) Laugh at with contempt and derision. SYNONYMS: barrack, gibe, jeer, scoff. USAGE: What a poor fellow I must be to let you mock and flout me as you have done!

Robinson, a vocal member of the Civil Rights movement, was the first African-American baseball player in the modern major leagues and the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1949, he led the National League in both stolen bases and batting average and was named its most valuable player. In recognition of his accomplishments both on and off the field, Major League Baseball retired Robinson's number in 1972. How many times did he "steal home" during his career?

DEFINITION: (noun) Protective covering consisting of a metal part that covers the engine. SYNONYMS: bonnet, cowling, hood. USAGE: The mechanic removed the cowl in order to repair the plane's engine.

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to be put into orbit. It was launched by the Soviet Union in October 1957 and acted as the starting gun for the space race. The Sputnik, Russian for "traveling companion," gathered data about the density of the upper layers of the atmosphere and the behavior of radio signals in the ionosphere. Sputnik 2, the second satellite to be put into orbit, was the first to carry a living creature. What type of animal was on board?

DEFINITION: (adjective) Elegant and fashionable. SYNONYMS: classy, posh. USAGE: She bought her baked goods from a swish pastry shop on the Rue du Bac.

According to baseball lore, a curse was placed on the Boston Red Sox after Babe Ruth, the "Bambino," was sold to the New York Yankees in 1920. Before the sale, the Red Sox had won 5 World Series titles; the Yankees had never even played in a series. Following the sale, the Yankees went on to win 26 World Series titles. The Red Sox, meanwhile, failed to win another series for more than 8 decades, finally breaking the "curse" in 2004. How did some Red Sox fans attempt to "reverse the curse"?

DEFINITION: (noun) The state or quality of being predominant; preponderance. SYNONYMS: predomination, prepotency. USAGE: Next came the great alliance of Eastern Asia, a close-knit coalescence of China and Japan, advancing with rapid strides year by year to predominance in the world's affairs.

Bruno Hauptmann, a German immigrant to the US, was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the young son of famed pilot Charles Lindbergh. In recent years, the case against Hauptmann has come under serious scrutiny, as it has been alleged that some of the evidence used to convict him was planted or doctored and that false testimony was given at the trial. What did modern forensic scientists determine about evidence from the kidnapping?

DEFINITION: (noun) A sudden numbing fear or dread. SYNONYMS: frisson, quiver, shudder, tingle, thrill, shiver. USAGE: I suppose I must have shuddered, or betrayed in some other way my momentary chill of horror.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus is a gothic novel that spawned a new genre of horror stories and films. It tells the story of Frankenstein, a scientist who discovers how to bring inanimate matter to life and, in the process, creates a man-monster. When Frankenstein fails to provide a mate to satisfy the creature's human emotions, it seeks revenge. Mary Shelley came up with the idea for the novel while vacationing at the home of what famous poet?

DEFINITION: (noun) An encroachment, as of a right or privilege. SYNONYMS: violation. USAGE: Before I could prove to them that this proceeding was a gross infringement on the liberties of the British subject, I found myself lodged within the walls of a prison.

Right fielder Roberto Clemente played 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning the National League MVP award in 1966, as well as 12 Gold Glove Awards throughout his career. In 1973, he became the first Latin-American player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Clemente, who was dedicated to charity work, was traveling to Nicaragua to deliver aid to earthquake victims when his plane crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico. Why did Clemente's teammate and best friend miss his funeral?

Traditionally considered the successor state of the Russian Empire, the USSR was established in 1922 and unified the Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Transcaucasian Soviet republics under one government. The first state to be based on Marxist socialism, the USSR became a world superpower that rivaled the US in domination of global affairs until its collapse and dissolution in 1991. In what year were diplomatic relations between the US and USSR first established?

DEFINITION: (verb) Formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure. SYNONYMS: abjure, recant, resile, retract. USAGE: "It's rank poison," said he, grasping the bottle by the neck, "and I forswear it! I've given up gambling, and I'll give up this too."

The Wounded Knee Massacre was the last major armed conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the US. After the death of Sitting Bull, a band of Sioux, led by Big Foot, fled south, but was captured by the 7th Cavalry on December 28, 1890. The next day, the Sioux were ordered disarmed. During the tension that ensued, a weapon discharged, US troops opened fire, and within minutes almost 200 men, women, and children were dead. This conflict is believed to be responsible for the decline of what movement?

DEFINITION: (adjective) Disposed to seek revenge or intended for revenge. SYNONYMS: revengeful, vindictive. USAGE: The murderer believed he was being haunted by the vengeful ghost of his victim.

DEFINITION: (noun) A collection of objects laid on top of each other. SYNONYMS: cumulation, heap, pile, cumulus, agglomerate. USAGE: At one point upon the bosom of the Thames there rises a few feet above the water a single, disintegrating mound of masonry.

Existing in various forms since at least the Neolithic period, chewing gum has been made from many materials, including plants, grasses, and resins. Though the first commercial chewing gum was sold in the US in 1848, modern chewing gum was only developed in the 1860s, when a rubber substitute called chicle began being imported from Mexico. In 1869, after Thomas Adams's experiments with the natural latex, a man named William Semple filed for the first chewing gum patent. How is gum made today?