The revolutionary rumblings started in Tunisia, where a desperate man set himself on fire when police seized the fruits and vegetables he was selling. Protests soon spread from there to Algeria and then migrated to Egypt, where youth-led masses in Tahrir Square brought the movement to a pitch. As pro-democracy rebellions spread across the Middle East, people began to refer to the season as the Arab Spring. Unrest moved to Yemen, Syria and Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and later killed. The term Arab Spring does not refer to April showers and May flowers; that first protester, Mohamed Bouazizi, took his life in December 2010. Rather, it refers to the rebirth and renewal that springtime often represents in metaphor. Discussing the term, linguist Ben Zimmer pointed out that revolutions have been dubbed "springs" of various sorts since the early 1800s. Except for those who were in Prague circa 1968, this is the first such spring that many have lived through — and the first to enjoy the widespread recognition the Internet can provide.