Word of the Week: Air Fryer 

Each year Merriam-Webster dictionary adds new words and definitions to its dictionary, from slang to new science and tech jargon. This year, they have added 455 new words! We don’t have enough “Peeks” to cover the new words, but I decided to share one of the newly added words that also may make the perfect Cyber Monday shopping purchase. 

An air fryer is now defined by Merriam-Webster as, “an airtight, usually small electrical appliance for quick cooking of foods by means of convection currents circulated rapidly by a fan.” Although invented in 2010, in recent years air fryers have become more popular, leading to their addition. Other newly added food-related words include “fluffernutter” and “chicharron.”  

This Week at Falvey  

Monday, Nov. 15–Friday, Jan. 7

Cabinets of Curiosity Exhibit / Falvey First Floor / Free & Open to the Public 

Wednesday, Dec. 1

Fall 2021 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Introduction to QGIS / 12:30–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / Register Here 

Friday, Dec. 3 

Villanova Gaming Society / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public 

This Week in History 

Dec. 5, 1945 – Aircraft squadron disappears in the Bermuda Triangle 

On Dec. 5, 1945 at 2:10 p.m., five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers took off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. Two hours later, the squadron leader reported that his compass and back-up compass have both failed. The final communication heard over the radio was the squadron leader telling his team to prepare to leave the aircraft due to a lack of fuel.  

A mariner aircraft with a 13-men crew soon took off to find the five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers, only to never be heard from again. Although naval officials maintained that the remains of the  men were not found because stormy weather destroyed the evidence, the story of the “Lost Squadron” helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle.

Read more about the Bermuda Triangle here. 

A&E Television Networks. (2009, November 24). Aircraft squadron disappears in the Bermuda Triangle. History.com. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/aircraft-squadron-lost-in-the-bermuda-triangle. 

Jenna Renaud is a graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a graduate student in the Communication Department.