The Storming of the Bastille (1789)

The Bastille was a 14th-century fortress and a notorious state prison in Paris. In 1789, an angry mob stormed the prison, freeing the political prisoners held in the edifice that had come to symbolize the French monarchy’s oppression of the people. The assault launched the French Revolution. Although the building itself was razed a year later, the Bastille became a symbol of French independence, and July 14th became a national holiday. How many prisoners were in the Bastille when it was stormed? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Owen Wister (1860)

Wister was an American author who is best remembered for his contributions to western fiction. A well-to-do Harvard graduate, he suffered from ill health and summered in the American West, where he gained much inspiration for his writings. His popular 1902 novel The Virginian is regarded as the first western. It tells the tale of a cattle rancher who depends on a harsh code of ethics, and it helped establish the cowboy as an American folk hero. To whom is the book dedicated? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Transits of Venus

When Venus passes directly between Earth and the Sun, it appears to observers as though a small disk is moving across the face of the Sun. Before the space age, such transits helped scientists calculate the distance between Earth and the Sun. Among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena, transits of Venus currently occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits 8 years apart separated by gaps of 121.5 and 105.5 years. When will the next transit of Venus occur? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Live Aid (1985)

Live Aid was a multi-venue rock concert held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia that raised about $280 million for famine relief in Africa. The event was organized by musician Bob Geldof, who founded the supergroup Band Aid in 1984 to raise money for the same cause. About 170,000 attended the Live Aid shows, and more than 1.5 billion viewers around the world watched them on TV. Performers included David Bowie, Paul McCartney, and Queen, as well as what groups that reunited for the event? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Harrison Ford (1942)

Ford is an American actor who had minor roles on screen and TV before achieving stardom in George Lucas’s 1977 hit movie Star Wars. He then took on the role of Indiana Jones and graduated to dramatic films like Blade Runner, Witness, and The Fugitive. His rugged good looks and wry charm made him one of the most popular actors of his day. A noted conservationist, Ford has had a species of spider and a species of ant named for him. How did he get the scar on his chin? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Ark of the Covenant

According to the biblical account, the Ark of the Covenant was an ornate, gold-plated wooden chest that was built at the command of God to house the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. The Ark was carried by the Hebrews in the wilderness and later placed in the Temple of Jerusalem. It is believed to have been captured when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and its subsequent fate is unknown. What are some theories about its current location? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary