On April 24, 1800, Pres. John Adams approved legislation that appropriated $5,000 to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress." The first books, ordered from London, arrived in 1801 and were stored in the U.S. Capitol, the Library's first home. The collection consisted of 740 volumes and three maps. On January 26, 1802, Pres. Thomas Jefferson approved the first law defining the role and functions of the new institution. This measure created the post of Librarian of Congress and gave Congress, through a Joint Committee on the Library, the authority to establish the Library's budget and its rules and regulations. From the beginning, however, the institution was more than just a legislative library, for the 1802 law made the appointment of the Librarian of Congress a presidential responsibility. It also permitted the president and vice president to borrow books, a privilege that, in the next three decades, was extended to most government agencies and to the judiciary. A separate law department was approved in 1832, along with an appropriation to purchase law books under the guidance of the chief justice of the United States. In 1814, the British army invaded the city of Washington and burned the Capitol, including the 3,000-volume Library of Congress. By then retired to Monticello, Jefferson offered to sell his personal library, the largest and finest in the country, to the Congress to "recommence" its library. The purchase of Jefferson's 6,487 volumes for $23,940 was approved in 1815. http://www.loc.gov/loc/legacy/loc.html

More than 95 percent of the bananas sold in the U.S. are Cavendish, the cultivar that has dominated the market since the 1970s. But a handful of the thousand or so other banana varieties out there are becoming available to consumers in this country. Baby The Mini brand is trademarked by Chiquita; you'll find similar fruit sold by Dole under the Baby name. Manzano This variety, native to Central and South America, belongs to a subcategory known as apple bananas. Plantain Actually an entire subset of the fruit, plantains are a kind of banana that is usually cooked. Red Sometimes confused with a Philippine staple variety called Lacatan, the red banana has a sweet taste and a creamy texture. http://www.saveur.com/article/Techniques/5-Banana-Varieties

It can take as long as 40 years for Olea europaea, the olive tree, to grow to full maturity (though many begin bearing fruit after just five to seven years). Once planted, however, barring frost, fire, or flood, the tree can live for centuries. Spain leads the world's olive oil production. Crete is home to the world's oldest, which after 5,000 years, is still producing fruit. http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Tree-of-Life
There are hundreds of varieties of olives grown around the world; here are ten that are prized for their oil: http://www.saveur.com/article/Techniques/A-Glossary-of-Olives

Which came first, editor or edit? This may sound like a chicken-and-egg question, but it's not. It's easy to assume that the word editor was formed from the verb edit. In reality, the word editor came first (from Latin edere: to give out). Then we formed the verb edit from it. Words such as babysit, vaccinate, donate, all were derived from their noun forms, not vice versa. This re-interpretation of a word to coin a new word is called back-formation: devising a word from what appears to be a derivative word. This re-analysis of words can be in error or in humor, done on purpose. About 110 years ago British troops were released after a long siege in a town called Mafeking in South Africa. It sparked wild celebrations in Britain. The town name Mafeking was jocularly treated as a gerund and a verb form was coined: to maffick (to celebrate). The word we now know as cherry was originally cherise (in French it's still called cerise today), but as that seemed to be plural, people erroneously spoke of a cherry when referring to a single fruit.
In the beginning back-formations are usually frowned upon, for example, the verb enthuse (a back-formation from enthusiasm) is not yet well accepted. Scores of other back-formations are now full-fledged members of the English language: greed (from greedy), injure (from injury), beg (from beggar). The verb to back-form itself is a back-formation.
sass (sas)
noun: Impudent talk; back talk.
verb tr.: To talk disrespectfully, especially to someone older or in authority.
Back-formation from sassy, alteration of saucy, from sauce, from Latin salsa, from sallere (to salt), from sal (salt). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sal- (salt) that is also the source of silt, sausage, salad, salami, salary, and salmagundi.
accrete (uh-KREET)
verb tr., intr.: To grow gradually by accumulation.
Back-formation from accretion, from accrescere (to grow). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ker- (to grow) that is also the source of words such as increase, recruit, crew, crescent, cereal, concrete, and crescendo.
cerebrate (SER-uh-brayt)
verb tr., intr.: To use the mind: to think, reason.
Back-formation from cerebration (act of thinking), from cerebrum (brain). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ker- (horn or head) that is also the source of words such as unicorn, horn, hornet, rhinoceros, reindeer, migraine, carrot, carat, and Hindi sirdar (leader, from Persian sar: head). A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

AskOxford.com You may see word of the day, quote of the week, sign up for newsletter, or search for information at: http://www.askoxford.com/ I tested the search feature with "Niagara Falls" and was surprised by the result: http://www.askoxford.com/results/?view=searchresults&freesearch="niagara%20falls"&branch=&textsearchtype=exact I shouldn't have been surprised, because the site searches for words not geography.