Month: May 2015

Operation Anthropoid: Reinhard Heydrich Is Assassinated (1942)

Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the Czechoslovak-British plan to assassinate top Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich, a chief planner of the so-called Final Solution whose ruthlessness and numerous execution orders earned him the nickname “the Hangman of Europe.” In May 1942, Heydrich was ambushed by Czech patriots and wounded. A week later, he died from his injuries. This was one of the only successful assassinations of a top-ranking Nazi leader during the war. How did the Nazis retaliate? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

National Reconciliation Week

Australia sets aside the week between May 27 and June 3 to honor the culture and history of its Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, and to promote reconciliation and forgiveness for the treatment that these indigenous peoples have suffered at the hands of white Australians. Since it was first held in 1996, National Reconciliation Week has featured various activities designed to promote understanding between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, such as the People’s Walk for Reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894)

Louis-Ferdinand Céline was the pen name of French writer and doctor Louis-Ferdinand Destouches. Considered one of the most influential French writers of the 20th century, he developed a writing style that aimed to capture the rhythm of everyday speech. He remains, however, a controversial figure, partly due to his virulent anti-Semitism. After World War II, France convicted him of being a Nazi collaborator but later granted him amnesty. What punctuation mark was he especially fond of? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Mount Carmel

Mt. Carmel is a mountain ridge in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Long an object of veneration, it was associated in biblical times with the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. From the mountainside vineyards comes the renowned Mt. Carmel wine, and at the foot of Mt. Carmel is the port of Haifa. On its slopes are a Baha’ist garden shrine, with the tombs of Bab-ed-din and of Abdul Baha, and a 19th-century Carmelite monastery. What strategic role did Mt. Carmel play during WWI? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Dred Scott Emancipated by His Original Owners (1857)

Scott was an American slave who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom in the famous Dred Scott v. Sandford case. Though he argued that having lived in states and territories where slavery was illegal rendered him a free man, the Supreme Court ruled against him in 1857, finding that no person of African ancestry could claim citizenship in the US or bring suit in federal court. Shortly thereafter, Scott was returned to his original owners and emancipated. What did he do after he was freed? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Georgia Independence Day

Georgia Independence Day celebrates the republic’s brief period of independence from Tsarist Russia from May 26, 1918, until its forced incorporation into the Soviet Union in 1922. Georgia declared its independence from the former Soviet Union on April 9, 1991, but the national holiday commemorates the country’s original independence earlier in the century. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

John Wayne (1907)

An American actor and enduring icon of rugged masculinity, Wayne is best known for playing the archetypal Western hero in films like Stagecoach, The Alamo, and Rio Bravo. He appeared in some 250 films before his work in True Grit earned him his first—and only—Academy Award. An outspoken supporter of conservative political causes, notably America’s role in Vietnam, Wayne also appeared in a number of war films, including The Green Berets. What was his real name? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary