Grace Kelly (1929)

Kelly was an American actress who gained critical and popular praise for her performances in High Noon and The Country Girl, for which she won an Academy Award. She also starred in three Alfred Hitchcock films but cut short her promising acting career in 1956 when she married Prince Rainier III, becoming Princess Grace of Monaco and retiring from acting. In 1982, she died in an accident after suffering a stroke while driving on a mountain road. How did she and Prince Rainier meet? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Avicenna

A polymath born in Persia around 980 CE, Avicenna was, among other things, an astronomer, chemist, mathematician, poet, and the foremost physician and philosopher of his time. The Canon of Medicine, one of his most famous works, remained a standard medical text at many Islamic and European universities until the 18th century. Called the “doctor of doctors,” Avicenna is regarded as the father of modern medicine. How old was Avicenna when he began studying medicine? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Highwayman Joseph “Blueskin” Blake Hanged (1724)

In the early 18th century, English criminal Jonathan Wild maintained a highly organized gang of thieves and long escaped punishment by posing as an instrument of justice and helping the authorities catch other criminals independent of, or rebellious to, his control. One such criminal was Blake, who was arrested after a burglary. He was tried, convicted, and hanged. What other notorious criminal—Blake’s partner in crime—escaped from prison when Blake attacked a witness at his trial? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Heurigen Parties

St. Martin’s Day, November 11, is the traditional time when wine taverns in Austria offer the first new wines of the year. Wine feasts called Heurigen parties abound in these taverns throughout the country and are scheduled according to an official Heurigenkalender. Traditional foods served with the new wine include sausage, cheese, and bread. Many taverns also stage operettas and other shows for the season. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Alessandro Moreschi (1858)

Moreschi was the late 19th century’s most famous castrato—a male singer who undergoes castration before puberty and, as a result, retains a soprano or alto voice that becomes extraordinarily powerful as he develops the lung capacity and physical bulk of an adult. He was first soprano in the Sistine Chapel choir for 30 years and was the only castrato of the bel canto tradition to make solo sound recordings. What do modern music critics say about the singing featured in these recordings? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Vienna Dioscurides

The Vienna Dioscurides is an early 6th-century copy of De Materia Medica, a manuscript first created by the ancient Greek physician and pharmacologist Dioscurides. A precursor to all modern pharmacopeias, it remained in practical use until about 1600. The Vienna Dioscurides contains more than 400 pictures of animals and plants and is the earliest known manuscript to use a solid gold background. It is also the oldest surviving illustrated treatise on what type of animal? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Hope Diamond Donated to the Smithsonian Institution (1958)

The Hope diamond is one of the largest blue diamonds known. Discovered in India, the original 115-carat stone was sold to King Louis XIV in the 1660s and remained part of the French crown jewels until a theft in 1792. In 1830, London banker Thomas Hope purchased a 45.5-carat diamond, now believed to have been cut from the stolen French jewel. After changing hands many times, the Hope diamond was eventually donated to the Smithsonian by jeweler Harry Winston. Why do some think the gem is cursed? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary