John Milton Publishes Areopagitica (1644)

Best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost, Milton, a 17th-century English poet, was also a writer of several political and moral pamphlets. More than two decades before his poetic masterpiece was published, Milton wrote Areopagitica, his best known prose work. One of the great arguments in favor of the freedom of the press, it was published in 1644 in response to his dissatisfaction with the strict censorship of the press exercised by Parliament. For what is the pamphlet named? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Zwiebelmarkt

Zwiebelmarkt is a great celebration of onions in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. The onion market is said to date back to the great fire of 1405, after which farmers of Fribourg were given the right to sell their products in Bern because they helped rebuild the city (though the first documented mention of onions came in the middle of the 19th century). Farmers at hundreds of stalls offer for sale more than 100 tons of strings of onions, as well as other winter vegetables and nuts. There are confetti battles, people dressed in disguises, and jesters doing satires of the year’s events. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Boris Karloff (1887)

London native William Henry Pratt adopted the stage name Boris Karloff while touring as an actor in Canada. After settling in Hollywood in 1919, he began acting in silent films and achieved stardom playing the monster in Frankenstein (1931). Thereafter typecast as a horror movie villain, Karloff went on to appear in more than 100 films. His most famous television performance was in the 1966 animated special How the Grinch Stole Christmas, in which he voiced which characters? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

What is Light?

Light is any wavelength of electromagnetic radiation, though the word is commonly used to refer to the visible light spectrum. The human eye typically perceives electromagnetic wavelengths between 400 and 700 nanometers, interpreting them as a range of colors from red to violet. Light is understood to exhibit both particle and wave properties, and the fundamental particle, or quantum, of light is called the photon. What is the scientific study of light called? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Blackbeard Killed in Battle with Royal Navy (1718)

Before turning to piracy, Blackbeard, whose real name was probably Edward Teach, likely worked as a privateer in the War of the Spanish Succession. While marauding in the West Indies and along the Atlantic coast, Blackbeard enjoyed the protection of North Carolina’s governor—who partook of the booty. A British naval force eventually killed Blackbeard and took his head back to England as proof. Legend has since romanticized the notoriously cruel pirate. When was his wrecked ship rediscovered? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

St. Cecilia’s Day

According to her apocryphal acts, which date from the fifth century, St. Cecilia was a Roman from a noble family who was put to death for her Christian beliefs; how she became the patron saint of music and musicians is not exactly known. In 1683, a musical society was formed in London especially for the celebration of St. Cecilia’s Day. It held a festival each year at which a special ode was sung. The poet John Dryden composed his “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day” in 1687 for this purpose. There are still many choirs and musical societies that bear her name today. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Charles de Gaulle (1890)

De Gaulle was a French general and statesman. He left France after it fell to the Germans in WWII and started the Free French movement in England. He returned to France after the liberation of Paris and headed two provisional governments before resigning in 1946. When an insurrection in Algeria threatened to bring civil war to France, he returned to government, helped establish the Fifth Republic, and became its first president in 1958. What was his role in the “Empty Chair Crisis”? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Tar

The tar is a long-necked lute found in Iran and throughout the Caucasus region. Its music was believed to cure a number of physical maladies and induce philosophical moods that compel listeners to reflect upon life. The tar’s double-bowl shape is carved from mulberry wood, and a thin membrane of stretched lambskin covers the top. It has a number of adjustable frets as well as three double courses of strings. Tar, Persian for string, is the root for the names of what other instruments? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

phylactery

Definition: (noun) Either of two small leather boxes, each containing strips of parchment inscribed with quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures, one of which is strapped to the forehead and the other to the left arm; traditionally worn by Jewish men during morning worship, except on the Sabbath and holidays.
Synonyms: tefillin.
Usage: Just before his bar mitzvah, David got a brand new set of phylacteries.
Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary