Stonewall Riots Begin (1969)

In 1969, gay rights in the US were virtually nonexistent, and discrimination was routine. On June 28, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular Mob-run gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, and began arresting patrons for cross-dressing. A crowd gathered outside, taunting police and throwing debris. The police responded with violence. Protest rallies and more riots followed, marking the awakening of the US gay rights movement. How long after the riots were the first Gay Pride marches held? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Montreal Jazz Festival

What has been called the most important cultural event in Canada and the largest jazz festival in the world, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal has attracted some of the greatest names in jazz—including Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and Dizzy Gillespie. More than a million people come to the festival, about one-fourth of them from outside Montreal. Montreal’s streets are closed for the 11 days of the festival to make room for the outdoor performances, which take place rain or shine, and represent a mix of traditional, modern, and innovative jazz. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Melvin Kaminsky, AKA Mel Brooks (1926)

Brooks is an American film director, writer, actor, and producer best known for his wild parodies that mix satire with slapstick. He started out as a television comedy writer but soon turned to film. He won an Oscar for his first feature film, The Producers (1968), a comic masterpiece of bad taste, and followed it with such films as the Western-inspired Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, a parody of the horror genre. Who speaks the only word in his Silent Movie? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Cyclo-Cross

Performed on short courses featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills, and obstacles, cyclo-cross is a form of bicycle racing that requires riders to dismount, carry their bikes while maneuvering around obstructions, and remount without losing speed. Some trace the origins of the sport to the early 1900s, when European road racers would race to the next town by cutting through fields, over fences, and taking various other shortcuts. Why did the sport gain popularity in 1910? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

“BTK” Serial Killer Dennis Rader Pleads Guilty to 10 Murders (2005)

Rader was a city employee, married father of two, Boy Scout leader, and an active churchgoer—and a serial killer. From 1974 to 1991, he killed 10 people in and around Wichita, Kansas. In 2004, after years of silence, he resumed taunting police and local media with letters describing the murders. In February 2005, police used information on a floppy disk he had sent them to locate and arrest him. He pled guilty that June. Five days after his arrest, he was fired from his job—for what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary