The Phantom of the Opera Premieres in London (1986)

Based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical The Phantom of the Opera opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London in 1986. In 2010, it celebrated its 10,000th performance at the same venue. It opened in New York in 1988, and went on to become the longest-running musical on Broadway. It is also the most financially successful entertainment project of all time, having earned billions of dollars. What is the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

St. Denis’s Day

Also known as St. Dionysius, St. Denis is the patron saint of France. According to legend, Pope Clement sent him to what is now France to establish the Church there, during the reign of Emperor Decius (249-251), but the pagans who greeted him did not treat him well. The most widely repeated legend is that they beheaded him on Martyr’s Hill—the place now known as Montmartre in Paris—but he miraculously picked up his head and carried it for two miles before expiring at the site where the Church of St. Denis was later built. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Alfred Dreyfus (1859)

In 1894, French Army intelligence discovered that military secrets were being leaked to Germany. Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French Army, was blamed and convicted—twice—on insufficient and forged evidence. He was imprisoned on Devil’s Island. The affair became a national scandal amid reports that the army, permeated by anti-Semitism, had covered up evidence of his innocence. He was pardoned by the president in 1899 and cleared by a civilian court in 1906. Who was probably the real traitor? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

F for Fake

F for Fake (1974) is the last major film completed by Orson Welles. It is a brilliantly edited investigation of the nature of authorship and authenticity, incorporating the story of professional art forger Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving’s fabricated biography of Howard Hughes, and Welles’s personal reflections on his infamous broadcast of The War of the Worlds. Early in the film, Welles vows that everything seen in the next hour will be true. What happens exactly one hour later? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Weatherman’s Days of Rage Begin (1969)

The Days of Rage were a series of violent anti-war protests in Chicago that coincided with the trial of the Chicago Eight, a group of protesters charged with conspiring to incite a riot. The Days of Rage were organized by Weatherman—later known as the Weather Underground—a radical faction of Students for a Democratic Society. Despite efforts to promote the event, the protesters were outnumbered by police, and many were arrested. What statue was blown up in the days leading up to the protests? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Croatia Independence Day

This holiday is celebrated in Croatia to mark the day in 1991 that the Croatian Parliament voted to cut constitutional ties with Yugoslavia. The Croatians had declared their independence three months earlier, on June 25 (Croatia Statehood Day), but a three-month moratorium was placed on implementation of the decision to give European negotiators a chance to broker an agreement. Those talks failed, and Croatia proceeded with its plan for independence. Offices, businesses, and schools in Croatia are closed on Independence Day. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Otto Heinrich Warburg (1883)

Warburg was a German physiologist, Nobel Prize winner, and director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute—now the Max Planck Institute—for cell physiology in Berlin. He was known for his investigation of the metabolism of tumors and the respiration of cells. His hypothesis that cancer cells switch from normal cellular respiration to glycolysis, the conversion of sugars, is now a noted phenomenon. In his later years, Warburg was said to have become somewhat eccentric and to have eaten only what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Shock and Awe Doctrine

The shock and awe doctrine is a military strategy based on the use of overwhelming force, dominant maneuvers, and staggering displays of power to control an adversary’s perception of the battlefield and quickly destroy its will to fight. Though the doctrine recognizes the need to minimize civilian casualties, it relies on the disruption of water supplies, food production, and other aspects of infrastructure. What historic military campaigns can be said to have operated under similar principles? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary