La Marseillaise, French National Anthem, Is Composed (1792)

Written and composed by French army officer Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792, La Marseillaise was adopted in 1795 as France’s first anthem. Although it was then banned by Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, and Napoleon III, it was restored as France’s national anthem in 1879. The evocative lyrics and recognizable tune of La Marseillaise have led to its use as a revolutionary anthem and have inspired many pieces of classical music and pop culture. What are some examples? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Ella Fitzgerald (1917)

After winning an amateur contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1934, Fitzgerald started singing with Chick Webb’s big band and soon became its star. She recorded her first hit, “A Tisket-A Tasket,” in 1938 and went on to become one of the best-selling vocal recording artists in history and a 14-time Grammy Award winner. In 1960, she made a famous live recording in which she improvised new lyrics to a song after forgetting the original ones. The performance earned her a Grammy. What song was it? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Zero

Despite being the last digit to come into use in the numerical system, the zero plays a central role in mathematics. During the 2nd century CE, Ptolemy began using a small circle with a long bar above it to symbolize zero. Because it was used alone, not just as a placeholder, this Hellenistic zero was perhaps the first documented use of a number zero in the Old World. Four centuries later, an Indian mathematician wrote a book of rules governing the use of the zero. Is zero an odd or even number? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Hubble Space Telescope Launched (1990)

The Hubble Space Telescope is the most sophisticated optical observatory ever placed into orbit around Earth, able to view star material some 10 to 12 billion light years away. Because it is above Earth’s obscuring atmosphere, it can obtain images that are much brighter, clearer, and more detailed than ground-based telescope images. Although a defect in the primary mirror initially caused it to produce fuzzy images, a 1993 shuttle mission fixed this. What are some of Hubble’s most famous images? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

World’s Biggest Fish Fry

A spring festival in Paris, Tennessee, the World’s Biggest Fish Fry makes use of the catfish in nearby Kentucky Lake. The fish fry began in 1954, and by the next year more than 1,600 pounds of catfish were served. Now, some 13,000 pounds of catfish are cooked, and about 100,000 people show up to eat, fish, and look around. Events include a car show, arts and crafts exhibits, a two-hour parade, and the coronation of a Queen of the Tennessee Valley and a Junior King and Queen. Besides fried fish to eat, there are hush puppies—small deep-fat fried corn meal balls. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

William Joyce (1906)

Born in the US and taken to the UK as a child, Joyce became involved with the fascist movement as a teen and fled to Germany before the outbreak of WWII. He remained there throughout the war, broadcasting Nazi propaganda in English from Berlin. He was captured by British soldiers in 1945 and, despite his American birth, was deemed subject to British jurisdiction because he held a British passport. He was convicted of treason and hanged. What urban legends about Joyce circulated during the war? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Sambo

Sambo is a modern martial art and combat sport that was developed to enhance the military’s hand-to-hand combat system in the former Soviet Union. In 1938, it was named the official sport of the USSR. Sambo combines a variety of wrestling styles with east Asian martial arts, boxing, and even fencing, from which it derives its parrying and lunging techniques. What does the combat style’s name mean? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary