Sam Houston Elected First President of Texas (1836)

A teenage runaway who spent three years living with Cherokee Indians, Houston went on to serve in the War of 1812 and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1823. Attracted to the struggle for Texan independence, he led the army of the provisional government of Texas to victory against the Mexicans in 1836 and served as the newly independent Republic of Texas’s first president. He helped Texas win statehood in 1845 and became governor in 1859, but he was deposed in 1861 for what reason? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Bread and Roses Festival

The Bread and Roses Festival is a one-day, free event held in Lawrence, Massachusetts, each year on Labor Day, the first Monday in September. The Festival commemorates the Bread and Roses Labor Strike that occurred in Lawrence in 1912 in protest of low wages and harsh working conditions. The Festival combines multicultural arts, poetry, dance, and music with themes of labor activism and social protest. In addition, information booths, ethnic food, and commemorative merchandise vendors are on site, as well as a petting zoo, pony rides, and a domino tournament. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

John Cage (1912)

Cage was an American avant-garde composer and writer. In the 1930s, he began writing all-percussion pieces and proclaimed the use of noise as the next musical horizon. In 1938, he introduced the “prepared piano,” an instrument whose sound is radically modified by various objects placed on the strings. He developed the idea of indeterminacy, music that is not strictly controlled. The notorious 4’33”, probably his most famous piece, consists of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is an umbrella term for the various legal entitlements associated with certain names, literary works, recorded media, and inventions. The holders of such entitlements may exercise various exclusive rights in relation to the use of their intellectual property. The concept is controversial because it implies that intellectual works—so-called products of the mind—are analogous to physical property. What is the difference between a copyright, a trademark, and a patent? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

George Eastman Receives a Patent for His Kodak Camera (1888)

Eastman was an American industrialist, inventor, and philanthropist. Interested in photographic processes from an early age, he invented roll film in 1884 and perfected a camera designed to use it, called the Kodak camera. In 1892, he established the Eastman Kodak Company and began to mass produce his inventions, transforming photography from an expensive hobby of the few to a relatively inexpensive, popular pastime. What was his contribution to the development of motion pictures? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Historical Regatta

Regattas have been a tradition in Italy for more than seven centuries, and this one in Venice is widely known as one of the most beautiful in the world. The Historical Regatta begins with a procession of historical boats, all decorated and strewn with flowers, down the Grand Canal. Leading the procession is the “Machina,” a vessel of baroque style which carries officials and local dignitaries. Then there are various competitions that arouse intense enthusiasm among the spectators; by the end of the regatta, all of the canals are crowded with boatloads of revelers. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Richard Wright (1908)

Wright was an American author whose works helped redefine discussions of race in the mid-20th century. The grandson of slaves, he grew up in poverty in the American south. The fictionalized autobiography Black Boy vividly describes his often harsh youth. He first came to wide attention in 1938 with a collection of short stories titled Uncle Tom’s Children and published his bestselling novel Native Son two years later. Why were some of his works reissued in 1991? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Perfect Numbers

In mathematics, a perfect number is an integer that is the sum of all of its proper, positive divisors not including the number itself. The first perfect number is 6, because 1, 2, and 3 are its proper, positive divisors and 1+2+3=6. Euclid, a Hellenistic mathematician living in the third century BCE, discovered a formula that identifies the first four perfect numbers. What is the second number in this set? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary