Chávez Leads Coup d’État against Venezuelan President Pérez (1992)

In 1989, Venezuelan President Carlos Pérez returned to office amid demonstrations and riots sparked by deteriorating social conditions. Three years later, Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chávez led an unsuccessful coup against Pérez and was jailed as a result. Pérez escaped another coup attempt later that year, but in 1993 he was removed from office on corruption charges and later imprisoned on charges of embezzlement and misuse of public funds. When did Chávez become president? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (1917)

Yahya Khan was the president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. As president, he inherited a two-decade old constitutional problem of interethnic rivalry, complicated by economic grievances and the problem of transforming a virtual autocracy into a democracy. He declared martial law, but it failed to curb domestic unrest, and civil war between East and West Pakistan broke out. Pakistan’s army was defeated, and Yahya Khan resigned after the establishment of what independent republic in 1971? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The XYZ Affair

The XYZ Affair was a 1797 diplomatic episode that worsened relations between France and the US and led to the undeclared Quasi-War of 1798. When the US signed a treaty with Great Britain in 1795, France perceived it as evidence of an Anglo-American alliance. The French responded by seizing hundreds of US ships bound for British ports. US President John Adams sent a delegation to negotiate peace, but communication stalled when the French agents demanded bribes. Who were X, Y, and Z? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Day the Music Died (1959)

During an extensive tour of the midwestern US, American rock-and-roll musician Buddy Holly chartered a small plane to transport him to his next gig. Fellow performers Richie Valens and J.P. Richardson, who was known as “The Big Bopper,” filled the remaining seats. Tragically, the plane crashed, killing everyone on board. The event was later called “the day the music died” by Don McLean in his song “American Pie.” Which of the passengers was said to have won his seat on the plane by a coin flip? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

St. Blaise’s Day

The association of St. Blaise with the blessing of throats can be traced to a number of sources. In any case, St. Blaise, since the 6th century in the East, has been the patron saint of people who suffer from throat afflictions, and celebrations on this day in the Roman Catholic Church often include the blessing of throats by the priest. In Spain, they bake small loaves, called tortas de San Blas (“San Blas’s loaves”). They are blessed during Mass, and each child eats a bit to prevent him or her from choking during the year. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Gertrude Stein (1874)

Stein was an American avant-garde writer and notable patron of the arts. While she was living in Paris, her home became a salon for leading artists and writers, including Picasso and Hemingway. An early supporter of Cubism, she tried to parallel its theories in her work, employing a unique prose style characterized by the use of repetition, fragmentation, and the continuous present. Her only book to reach a wide audience, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas was actually about whom? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Tonsillectomy

The tonsils are areas of lymphoid tissue located on either side of throat that are frequently removed in a surgical procedure called a tonsillectomy. Those who often suffer from inflamed tonsils, as is the case with chronic tonsillitis patients, frequently undergo the procedure. The surgery is commonly performed on children; and among adult tonsillectomy patients, there is a slightly increased risk of bleeding and, generally, more postoperative pain. What is “Painless Tonsillectomy”? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary