La Cantuta Massacre (1992)

In 1992, a professor and nine students from Lima’s La Cantuta University were abducted by a military death squad, murdered, and secretly buried. The murders occurred during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori and his government’s battle against the guerilla terrorist group Shining Path. The massacre contributed to Fujimori’s conviction in 2009 on charges of human rights abuses, for which he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. What bombing was used as a justification for the La Cantuta Massacre? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Marine Day (Umi no Hi)

This holiday was established in 1941 to mark the return of Meiji the Great (1852-1912), Japan’s 122nd emperor, from the northern island of Hokkaido in 1876. The vessel that transported the emperor, the Meiji-Maru, has been preserved as a national treasure and is open for public viewing on Marine Day. With the festival’s new focus on marine environmental issues, organizations take advantage of the day to raise awareness by scheduling seaside cleanups and other special events. For Japanese schoolchildren, Marine Day also marks the beginning of their summer vacation. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Robert Hooke (1635)

Hooke was a prolific English physicist, mathematician, and inventor. He was a geometry professor and the curator of experiments for the Royal Society. An architect as well, he played a major role in the surveying and rebuilding of London after the 1666 fire. Considered the greatest mechanic of his age, he made myriad improvements to astronomical instruments and timepieces. In his pioneering book Micrographia, he described his microscopic observations of plant tissue and coined what term? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Gavel

Used by judges, presiding officers, and auctioneers, gavels are small ceremonial mallets often struck against a block to call for attention or punctuate rulings. Because it is often used forcefully and therefore broken, the gavel in the US House of Representatives is plain, wooden, and easily replaced. The US Senate gavel is made of solid ivory and is actually a replica. Which US Vice President splintered the original—which had been used since 1789—during a heated debate on nuclear energy? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Napalm Incendiary Bombs Dropped for First Time by US Air Force (1944)

Napalm is an organic compound used to thicken gasoline for use as an incendiary in flamethrowers and firebombs. The thickened mixture burns more slowly and can be propelled more accurately and farther than gasoline. When it comes in contact with surfaces, including the human body, it sticks and continues to burn. It was developed and first used by the US in World War II. Its use in the Vietnam War became highly controversial. “Napalm” is a combination of what two words? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Birthday of Lu Pan

This holiday commemorates the birth of Lu Pan, the Taoist patron saint of carpenters and builders. In Hong Kong, people in the construction industry observe the day with banquets to give thanks for their good fortune in the past year; they also pay their respects at noon at the Lu Pan Temple in Kennedy TownKennedy Town. Because his inventions are indispensable to building, it is common practice at the start of major construction projects for employees to have feasts, burn incense, and offer prayers to Lu Pan so that he may protect them and the construction work from disaster. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

S.Y. Agnon (1888)

Agnon was an Israeli writer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest modern Hebrew novelists and short-story writers. Born into a Polish Galician family in what is now Ukraine, Agnon settled in Palestine in 1907. His fiction explores Jewish life from the late 18th century to the post-WWI period. The Day Before Yesterday, perhaps his greatest novel, examines the problems faced by the westernized Jewish immigrant to Israel. In 1966, Agnon shared the Nobel Prize in Literature with whom? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Sea Routes of the Ancient World

Before the invention of modern navigational tools, sailors in the ancient world navigated sea routes using periploi, documents that list ports, coastal landmarks, and the approximate distances between them. The Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, dated between the first and third century CE, details navigation and trading opportunities at Roman Egyptian ports on the Red Sea and along the coasts of E Africa and India. According to the document, where is the “Frankincense kingdom”? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary