Vidalia Onion Festival

There are no tears during this tribute to Georgia’s state vegetable, the sweet Vidalia onion, which is said to be burp-free, good for digestion, and tearless. The festival is held in Vidalia at the height of the harvest season, which extends from mid-April to early June.The celebration of the onion includes standard festival fare—music, a street dance, a fishing rodeo and expo, and a fun run. Finally, there are onion-eating contests and a Vidalia Onion Cook-Off, which produces cakes, breads, and muffins made with onions. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Herbert Spencer (1820)

Admired by some and loathed by others, Spencer was one of the most discussed Victorian thinkers. An English sociologist and philosopher, he was an advocate of the theory of social Darwinism. In his vast, multi-volume System of Synthetic Philosophy, he held that the physical, organic, and social realms are interconnected and develop according to identical evolutionary principles. To describe his theory of sociocultural evolution, he coined what well-known phrase? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Euthanasia

Derived from the Ancient Greek expression meaning “good death,” euthanasia refers to the practice of ending a life, typically in cases of terminal illness, either by painlessly causing death or failing to prevent death from natural causes. Illegal in most countries, euthanasia is a controversial subject, not only because of the many moral dilemmas associated with it, but also because the word itself can be defined in many ways. What does Hippocrates say about euthanasia in the Hippocratic Oath? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Studio 54 Opens in New York (1977)

The disco craze was relatively short-lived, beginning in the mid-1970s and fading by the 1980s, yet it had a lasting influence on the music scene. A beat-driven style of dance music, disco got its name from the “discotheque,” the type of nightclub where it originated. No discotheque was more central to disco than Studio 54, the Manhattan club famous for its mix of celebrities, beautiful people, and hedonism. The club paralleled disco’s demise and closed in 1980. What is the space used for today? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Fanny Blankers-Koen (1918)

Representing her native Netherlands, Blankers-Koen made her Olympic debut at the 1936 Berlin Games but failed to medal. Two years later, she set her first world record in track and field. Unfortunately for her, both the 1940 and 1944 Games were cancelled due to WWII, so she had to wait until 1948’s Summer Games in London to compete again. In addition to losing precious years, the athlete gave birth twice in the interim. Still, she went on to win four gold medals in London, earning what nickname? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Tillamook Cheddar, Canine Artist

Tillamook Cheddar was a Jack Russell terrier that had the distinction of being the world’s most widely shown and successful living animal painter. Using her claws and teeth, she created abstract expressionist paintings, drawings, etchings, and sculptures that have been compared to those of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. Her works have been featured in solo exhibitions in the US, Belgium, and the Netherlands. What have art critics said about her works? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

A search for some of Earth’s most extreme creatures in the West Coast’s deepest underwater canyon

Geobiologist Victoria Orphan stands at the stern of the research vessel Western Flyer, watching her colleagues put the last touches on an unusual spread. Among the offerings: a large turkey leg, an alligator head and bowls of gelatinous agar that … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary