Jacques Piccard (1922)

Piccard was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer who developed underwater vehicles for studying ocean currents. He came from a family of adventurers, and his father was known for exploratory balloon flights. Together, they developed the bathyscaphe for deep-sea travel. In 1960, Piccard and Don Walsh of the US Navy set a new submarine depth record when they reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, a depth of about 35,800 feet (10,912 m). What cut the mission short? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Möbius Strip

Discovered independently by German mathematicians August Möbius and Johann Listing in 1858, the Möbius strip is a continuous one-sided surface formed by rotating one end of a rectangular strip 180° and attaching it to the other end. If cut down the center, instead of two new strips, only one long one is produced. Because these strips effectively double surface area, they have practical applications as conveyor belts, continuous-loop recording tapes, and ribbons used in what kinds of machines? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Six-Year-Old Adam Walsh Kidnapped (1981)

Adam Walsh disappeared in 1981 after his mother left him playing video games at a department store in Hollywood, Florida, while she shopped nearby. Two weeks later, his severed head was found in a canal, but the investigation was largely mishandled, and no one was ever arrested. His father, John Walsh, devoted his life to advocating for missing children and became the host of the TV show America’s Most Wanted. In 2008, police closed the case on Adam. Who do they believe killed him? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Guru Purnima

In Hinduism, a guru is a personal teacher or guide who has already attained spiritual insight—Guru Purnima is the day set aside for the veneration of the guru. In ancient times, when students were educated in ashrams and gurukuls, this was the day they would honor their teachers, pay their fees, and give them presents. This day is also known as Vyasa Purnima after Rishi Vyasa, a famous guru who is said to have compiled the four Vedas, the Mahabharata, and the Puranas, a series of 18 epics dealing with creation and the gods in the form of fables, legends, and tales. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge (1904)

Bainbridge was an American physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, the US government program that produced the first atomic bomb. He was the director of Project Trinity, the first nuclear test explosion—the sole test before the bombs were used. The successful test took place in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, and Bainbridge called the blast “a foul and awesome display.” He later became an outspoken opponent of nuclear testing. What was Bainbridge’s other notable scientific accomplishment? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Speaking in Tongues

Glossolalia is the generally unintelligible speech produced by some schizophrenics or individuals in a state of trance-like religious excitement. In the latter context, “speaking in tongues” is often interpreted as a sign of possession by a supernatural spirit or conversation with divine beings. There are several references to the phenomenon in the New Testament, including an account of such an occurrence among followers of Jesus at Pentecost. What other religions practice forms of glossolalia? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Short Creek Raid (1953)

Before dawn on July 26, 1953, more than 100 Arizona state police officers and National Guard soldiers entered Short Creek, home to about 400 Mormon fundamentalists, many of whom illegally practiced polygamy. Almost the whole community was arrested, and 263 children were seized from their parents. Arizona’s governor described it as a “police action against insurrection,” but the raid drew widespread criticism. Community members knew the raid was coming. What were they doing when officers arrived? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary