Pub Quiz

Largely a British phenomenon that spread to other nations after peaking in the early 1990s, pub quizzes are popular trivia games that take place in pubs around the world. Though participants often have to pay to play, pubs sometimes host free games in order to increase attendance and revenue on less busy nights. In this team game, players work together to win prizes that often include drinks, cash, or vouchers for pub fare. How are pub owners combating the recent spate of high-tech cheating? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Saved by the Bee: The Unlikely Solution to Africa’s Elephant Problem

Elephants are a big issue for farmers in parts of Africa — but whether they want to or not, the two are going to have to learn to live together. A population boom on the continent calls for an increase in resources, and farmers are expanding to accommodate … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Foundation Stone Laid for Cologne Cathedral in Germany (1248)

The Cologne Cathedral is the largest in northern Europe. It contains the paintings of Stephen Lochner and is believed to hold the relics of the Wise Men of the East. Built in the Gothic style, it was begun in 1248 on the site of an older church. The nave and two spires—each of which is 515 ft (157 m) high—were included in the original plans but built later, between 1842 and 1880. For the next four years, it was the tallest structure in the world. What destroyed the original church in 1248? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Assumption of Our Lady (Santa Marija)

On this day, Malta celebrates the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, a national holiday that commemorates the success of Operation Pedestal. Many believe that it was through the intervention of Our Lady that Operation Pedestal was able to succeed. Church services across the country start with a prayer of thanksgiving, and the names of the five surviving merchant ships are read. The holiday is celebrated festa style—with fireworks, decorated streets, and carts throughout the villages selling many different foods, including traditional sweets and delicacies. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Julia Child (1912)

Child was an American chef, author, and TV personality who introduced French cooking to the American public. She began studying French cuisine while her husband was stationed in France on a diplomatic assignment and attended Paris’s famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. In 1961, she cowrote the bestseller Mastering the Art of French Cooking and soon began hosting a series of educational TV programs, including what show that transformed her into an Emmy-winning public-broadcasting star? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Port Arthur Massacre

On the morning of April 28, 1996, Martin Bryant bought a lighter, a can of tomato sauce, and a cup of coffee, drove to Port Arthur, a popular tourist site in Tasmania, Australia, and shot and killed 35 people and wounded another 37. The mentally handicapped 28-year-old was found fit to stand trial as a mentally competent adult, convicted, and sentenced to serve 35 life terms, one for each person killed, plus 1035 years without the possibility of parole. How old was Bryant’s youngest victim? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

We Finally Know Who Forged Piltdown Man, One of Science’s Most Notorious Hoaxes

When Piltdown Man was unveiled before a meeting of London geologists in 1912, he was heralded as paleoanthropology’s “missing link,” the long-sought transitional form between modern humans and our great ape ancestor. He had a smallish skull, a chimp-like … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Battle of Aljubarrota (1385)

At a time of war, famine, and plague in Europe, the Portuguese village of Aljubarrota became the site of a momentous battle in which the Portuguese, aided by English archers, defeated the forces of the Spanish King John I of Castile, assuring Portuguese independence from the Castilian crown. Nuno Álvares Pereira, the man who led the revolt against Castilian domination, emerged from the battle a hero. He later became a monk and was recently canonized. Who was the Portuguese king at the time? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary