Hinnies

Bred as work animals for at least 3,000 years because of their ability to withstand harsh conditions, mules are the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. The less common cross of a female donkey and a male horse is called a hinny. Hinnies are more horselike in appearance than mules, but are often considered inferior. Like mules, they are sterile, since their uneven number of chromosomes results in an incomplete reproductive system. Why are hinnies rarer than mules? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Great Train Robbery (1963)

On the night of August 7, 1963, a postal train left Glasgow with a High Value Package (HVP) coach containing registered mail and a large sum of money. Before dawn the next morning, the driver sighted a red signal and, not knowing that the light had been tampered with, brought the train to a halt as was protocol. Fifteen robbers descended on the train, attacking the train’s operators, restraining the postal workers in the HVP coach, and making off with £2.6 million. Were the robbers ever caught? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Old Fiddler’s Convention

A five-day concert in the small town of Galax, Virginia, the Old Fiddler’s Convention spotlights old-time music in an outdoor setting. The convention was organized in 1935 as a fundraising event by members of Moose Lodge No. 733 and was dedicated to “keeping alive the memories and sentiments of days gone by.” About 25,000 people now attend. Hundreds of contestants take part, competing for cash prizes and trophies in categories that include guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, dobro, clawhammer and bluegrass banjo, clog or flatfoot dancing, and folk singing. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Matthew Alexander Henson (1866)

Orphaned in his youth, Henson went to work on a merchant ship at the age of 12. After nearly a decade at sea, he met American explorer Robert E. Peary and became his valet and assistant for the next 22 years. In 1909, Henson accompanied Peary on the first expedition credited with reaching the North Pole. Though Peary received many honors for this achievement, Henson, an African American, was largely ignored. What did both men leave behind when they returned to mainland America from the Arctic? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Montgolfier Brothers

After discovering that heated air in a lightweight bag would cause the bag to rise, French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier invented a contraption that would come to be known as the hot-air balloon. In 1783, they held the first public demonstration of their invention and, just months later, the first manned free flight. Before humans were sent up in the balloon, a test flight was made using three animals: a sheep, a duck, and a rooster. Why were these animals chosen? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Hermine Braunsteiner Becomes First Nazi Extradited from the US (1973)

Nicknamed the “Stomping Mare” for her violent kicking of prisoners, Braunsteiner was a Nazi concentration camp guard during WWII. After the war, she spent a brief period in jail for war crimes before marrying an American and becoming a US citizen. In 1964, she was confronted at her home in New York by a reporter tipped off about her past by Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. When her role in the war came to light, she was stripped of her citizenship and extradited to West Germany. What became of her? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary