Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott is widely regarded as both the inventor of the historical novel and one of the genre’s greatest writers. His extremely popular “Waverley” series consists of more than two dozen romances of Scottish life. The first, published in 1814, was an immediate success, yet Scott continued to write anonymously until 1827. In 1825, his business nearly failed. By what means did he attempt to stave off bankruptcy, eventually achieving financial solvency after his own death? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
A lek is a traditional site where both males and females of a species congregate during the breeding season. It is comprised of a number of small territories, each occupied by a single male. There, the males attempt to attract a mate by sparring with their neighbors or putting on extravagant visual or aural displays, such as mating “dances,” vocal challenges, or plumage displays. What is the “lek paradox”? 
In August 1969, tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland came to a head in the predominantly-Catholic Bogside neighborhood of Londonderry. For days, fighting raged with Catholic residents on one side and police and Protestant residents on the other. On August 14, British troops were deployed to restore order. Some consider that day to be the definitive beginning of the decades-long conflict known as The Troubles. How did residents react to the arrival of the army? 
On this day in 1947, 
Ørsted was a Danish physicist and chemist. In 1820, he discovered that electric current passing through a wire can deflect a nearby compass needle, a phenomenon that inspired the development of electromagnetic theory. His 1820 discovery of piperine, one of the pungent components of pepper, was an important contribution to chemistry. In 1824, he founded a society devoted to the spread of scientific knowledge among the general public. What unit of measurement was named after him? 
American brothers Homer and Langley Collyer lived as hermits in their New York City home before being found dead in 1947, surrounded by more than 100 tons of rubbish amassed over several decades. Their uncontrolled collecting is often cited as a prime example of the hoarding behavior associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Among the clutter were 14 pianos, pickled human organs, and the chassis of an old car, with booby-traps set up to protect against intruders. How did the men die? 
Witte was a German citizen and circus acrobat who claimed to have impersonated his way into being crowned King of Albania in 1913—by some accounts, on August 13. According to Witte, he enjoyed the royal harem and reigned for several days before being discovered as an impostor. Though he was likely lying, his story was picked up by several publications, including Time magazine. What novel may have given Witte the idea for his story, and what other novel was then based on Witte?