New Amsterdam Incorporated as a City (1653)

In 1625, the Dutch West India Company decided to build a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, in close proximity to the fur-rich forests bordering the Hudson River. Named Fort Amsterdam, it became the capital of New Netherland and was incorporated as the city of New Amsterdam a few decades later. In 1664, it was captured by the British and renamed New York. The Dutch retook the city in 1673, and before the British claimed it yet again, it was briefly known by what third name? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Yemanjá Festival

Yemanjá is a major festival of the Candomblé religion in the Rio Vermelho district of Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil. Maes-de-santo and filhas-de-santo (men and women mediums, or followers of the saints) sing and dance from daybreak on, summoning Yemanjá, or Iemanjá (the goddess of the ocean), to the festival. Offerings are placed in boats and carried down to the sea, where they are set afloat. Thousands of people flock to the coast for the festivities. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Ayn Rand (1905)

1926, Rand fled post-revolution Russia for the US, which she considered the “country of the individual.” She worked for many years as a screenwriter before winning a cult following with two influential novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Her works present her belief in rational self-interest, a philosophy she called “objectivism,” and made her an icon of radical libertarianism. What unusual floral arrangement was placed near the casket at Rand’s funeral? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Koalas

Although they are somewhat bearlike in appearance and are sometimes called koala bears, koalas are not related to true bears. Native to Australia, the koala is a slow-moving, nocturnal, arboreal marsupial, or pouched mammal. It has perhaps the most specialized diet of any living mammal: it feeds on leaves and shoots of a particular species of eucalyptus in a certain stage of maturation. Why do koalas need to drink so infrequently? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Janet Jackson’s Wardrobe Malfunctions (2004)

Nearly 90 million people watched Super Bowl XXXVIII, and approximately 540,000 of them filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission after Justin Timberlake exposed fellow singer Janet Jackson’s breast during the game’s halftime show. The incident led to legal action, heavy fines, and a crackdown on aspects of US broadcasting considered indecent. Shortly after the “wardrobe malfunction,” a streaker darted onto the field in an unrelated stunt. What happened to him? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

National Freedom Day

National Freedom Day commemorates the abolition of slavery in the United States. On that date in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, making slavery illegal. The purpose of the day is to celebrate the freedom from slavery for all people and to acknowledge the importance of freedom and harmony in American society. Freedom Day is not a federal holiday, and a strong drive is underway to adopt June 19, or Juneteenth, as it is known, as the American holiday to celebrate the end of slavery. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Johannes Trithemius (1462)

In 1482, 20-year-old scholar Johannes Trithemius was traveling home from university when a snowstorm forced him to take refuge in the Benedictine abbey at Sponheim, Germany. He decided to stay and was soon elected abbot, whereupon he began transforming the abbey into a place of serious study. Allegations of occultism in his writings led to his resignation, but some of those volumes that were once assumed to be about magic have since been deciphered and are now known to deal with what subject? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Dung Beetles

As their name suggests, dung beetles feed partly or exclusively on feces. Many dung beetles roll manure into balls—sometimes as large as apples—which they then use as food sources and brooding chambers. They can eat more than their own weight in 24 hours and are considered helpful because they convert manure into substances usable by other organisms. According to estimates, how many millions of dollars do dung beetles save the US cattle industry each year by burying above-ground livestock feces? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary