Tajikistan Day of National Unity

On June 27, 1997, a treaty was signed between Islamic rebels and the Russian-backed Tajikistan government, bringing to an end a five-year-long civil war. The day is remembered as the Day of National Unity. On the Day of National Unity in 2007, the Tajik parliament passed a law granting amnesty to all rebels who had fought against the government, provided they had not committed murder, rape, human or drug trafficking, or terrorism. Some 2,000 prison inmates were released under the new law. The 2007 commemoration also marked the opening of 11 new buildings in the city of Dushanbe. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Emma Goldman (1869)

Goldman was an American anarchist. She became active in the movement after 1889, and her speeches began to attract attention throughout the US. In 1893, she was imprisoned for inciting a riot. She was also imprisoned in 1916 for publicly advocating birth control and again in 1917 for obstructing the draft. She was deported to Russia in 1919 but left in 1921 because of her disagreement with the Bolshevik government. She was permitted to reenter the US for a lecture tour in 1934 on what condition? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Faiyum Mummy Portraits

For the first three centuries CE, the people of Roman Egypt, especially those of the Faiyum region, used hot, pigmented wax to paint portraits of the dead on wooden or plaster-coated panels. Renowned for their naturalism, the detailed funerary masks, which were placed over the faces of Faiyum’s ancient mummies, make up the richest body of portraiture to have survived from antiquity. What do some scholars claim the age of the subjects in the portraits says about life expectancy at the time? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

A Texan Went to the Hospital for Surgery and Woke up with a British Accent.

Lisa Alamia had the jaw surgery in December. She underwent the procedure to correct a serious overbite, and it was a success, according to Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. The 33-year-old woke up and had minimal swelling. But then she began to talk. And … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Conquistador Francisco Pizarro Killed (1541)

After multiple expeditions in the New World, Pizarro set sail for Peru in 1531 with 180 men. His men soon slaughtered the unarmed emissaries of the Inca emperor, Atahuallpa, and took him hostage. After accepting a rich ransom for Atahuallpa’s release, Pizarro had him garroted and spent the rest of his life consolidating Spain’s hold on the Inca empire in Peru. In 1535, he founded Lima, where he was killed by fellow Spaniards he had betrayed. What became of Pizarro’s remains? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

St. Martha’s Day (Fête de la Tarasque)

Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, is best known for her role in Jesus’ visit to their house in Bethany. Martha’s second legendary claim to fame is that she killed a dragon who was ravaging the Provençal countryside, in what is now known as Tarasçon in Provence, France. Every year on the last weekend in June, a procession takes place there that commemorates St. Martha’s power. In the first procession, eight men walk next to the dragon’s spiked body, which snaps at the crowd of spectators. In the second procession, the dragon trots along behind a young girl representing St. Martha. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Violette Szabo (1921)

Szabo was a British secret agent during WWII. After her husband died in the war, Szabo, who was fluent in French, offered her services to the British Special Operations Executive. After intensive training, she parachuted into German-occupied France to reorganize a French resistance network. On her second mission, she was captured by the Nazis. She endured interrogation and torture before being transferred to a concentration camp, where she was later executed. How old was Szabo when she died? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Cuteness

The kind of innocent and youthful attractive beauty that we call cuteness may be a key to survival. Zoologist Konrad Lorenz, who first introduced it as a scientific concept in the study of animal behavior, argued in 1949 that cuteness—characterized by a combination of infantile features, such as big eyes, big heads, and shortened noses—triggers nurturing responses in adults, ultimately securing the survival of the species. What human behavior did Lorenz use as evidence of his theory? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary