Azerbaijan Independence Days

Azerbaijan observes two independence days. The May 28, 1918, establishment of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan provides the occasion for one independence celebration. As Azerbaijan came under Soviet rule two years later, its new independence day commemorates the declaration of independence made by the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan on October 18, 1991. After the USSR ceased to exist as a geopolitical entity, Azerbaijan became an official independent state on December 26, 1991. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Thomas Love Peacock (1785)

Peacock was an English writer whose comic and satirical novels—which contain some of his best poems—parody the intellectual pretenses of his age. His best-known work, Nightmare Abbey, satirizes the English romantic movement and contains characters based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, and his close friend Percy Bysshe Shelley. After Shelley’s death, Peacock became his literary executor. Peacock died at the age of 80 from injuries sustained while trying to save what from a fire? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Sennacherib

The son of Assyrian king Sargon II, Sennacherib spent much of his reign fighting to maintain the empire established by his father. Though he undertook many military campaigns, he was devoted to building projects and oversaw the construction of numerous canals as well as one of the world’s first aqueducts. Around 700 BCE, he built a magnificent palace, complete with a park and artificial irrigation, at Nineveh, which became the empire’s major metropolis during his reign. Who murdered Sennacherib? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Universe May Have 10 Times as Many Galaxies as We Thought

The universe — or at least the “observable universe,” the part we’re theoretically capable of detecting from Earth — is much more crowded than scientists had thought. Previous estimates, based on the Hubble Deep Field images captured in the mid-1990s, suggested … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The First British Open Is Held in Scotland (1860)

The Open Championship of the British Isles, or the Open, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious golf championship tournaments in the world. It began in 1860 at Scotland’s Prestwick course and is now rotated among select courses in England and Scotland. The first tournament was won by Willie Park, who also recorded the tournament’s highest single-hole stroke total—21. Though today the Open has a multimillion-dollar prize fund, there was no prize money initially. Instead, Park won what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Anniversary of the Death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines

A former slave, Jean-Jacques Dessalines (ca. 1758–October 17, 1806) played a pivotal role under the command of Toussaint L’Ouverture in the Haitian struggle for independence from France. Dessalines ruled Haiti as Emperor Jacques I for two years before he was assassinated in a coup. It is Dessalines’ legacy as a freedom fighter and a founding father that Haitians remember on this official holiday commemorating the anniversary of his death. Haitians observe the holiday by participating in street parades in the capital city of Port-au-Prince and other cities. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel (1938)

Knievel was an American daredevil and icon of the 1970s. He began doing motorcycle stunts as a teenager, then embarked on an incredibly varied career that included professional hockey, a stint in the army, work in copper mines, and eventually crime—safecracking and holdups. In 1965 he “went straight” and took up performing dangerous and thrilling stunts, which did not always go smoothly and eventually earned him the record for most broken bones in a lifetime. What canyon did Knievel try to jump? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Were-Jaguar

The were-jaguar is one of the most prominent and enigmatic designs of the Olmec people, who flourished between 1200 BCE and 400 BCE in south-central Mexico. Seen in murals and statues, the design is characterized by a down-turned mouth, almond-shaped eyes, fleshy lips, and a cleft forehead. Though the term is derived from the Old English “were,” meaning “man,” and “jaguar,” the predatory cat revered by the Olmec people, some scholars believe were-jaguars represent a different animal. Which one? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary