Montreal Protocol Signed to Protect the Ozone Layer (1987)

The Montreal Protocol was enacted in response to the discovery that the ozone layer—which shields life on Earth from harmful radiation—was diminishing. Signed by the majority of the world’s nations, the treaty mandates the decreased use of ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and has been amended several times based on new scientific data. By 1993, CFC production had dropped dramatically. If the agreement is followed, the ozone layer is expected to recover by what year? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Mexico Festival of Independence

At 11 o’clock on the night of September 15 in Mexico City, the president appears on the balcony of the National Palace and proclaims the famous Grito de Dolores (“cry of Dolores”)—the “call to freedom” that the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla used to rouse the peasant population to fight for their independence in 1810. The people respond by cheering Viva México! and shooting off fireworks. The following day is Independence Day, which is celebrated with fireworks, the ringing of cathedral bells, and a huge military parade. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

B.B. King (1925)

A singer and guitarist born into a sharecropping family in the Mississippi Delta region of the US, King began playing guitar at 12. He worked as a radio DJ in Memphis before coming to prominence as a guitarist in 1952. He has toured widely, averaging over 300 shows a year for nearly 30 years. King famously named his guitar Lucille after a woman who inspired a fight at one of his concerts that ended with the venue burning down. King’s first name is Riley. What does B.B. stand for? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Domes

Common structural elements in buildings around the globe, domes were first constructed atop primitive huts using sticks and mud. Their full architectural potential was not realized, however, until the 6th-century Byzantine architects of Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia perfected the use of pendentives—triangular sections of vaulting that form the transition between circular domes and their polygonal supporting structures. Not all domes are perfectly circular. When was the first oval dome built? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Nuremberg Laws Deprive German Jews of Citizenship and Civil Rights (1935)

Enacted in the early years of Adolf Hitler’s rule, the Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of German citizenship, prohibited them from marrying non-Jews, and forbade them to hire non-Jewish domestic servants. Supplementary decrees laid down the criteria for determining exactly who was legally Jewish. Punishments for violating the laws included fines, hard labor, and even death. Three years after the laws were announced, another law required Jews to adopt what middle names? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Guatemala Independence Day

This is the day on which Guatemala won its independence from Spain in 1821. It is a public holiday during which the buildings in Guatemala City are draped in blue-and-white bunting, and there are parades with schoolchildren marching to the music of military bands. A popular holiday pastime is watching La Conquista (The Conquest), a traditional dance where the dancers, in wooden masks and red wigs, reenact the conquest of the Mayan Indians by the Spanish soldier Pedro de Alvarado. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary