Shichi-Go-San

Shichi-Go-San is an ancient Japanese celebration that marks the special ages of seven, five, and three. It has long been traditional for families to take girls aged seven, boys of five, and all three-year-olds to the neighborhood Shinto shrine. There they are purified, and the priest prays for their healthy growth. Afterwards, there are often parties for the children, and they are given a special pink hard candy, called “thousand-year candy,” to symbolize hopes for a long life. Because Nov. 15 is not a legal holiday, families now observe the ceremony on the Sunday nearest that date. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

John I “the Posthumous” of France (1316)

For the five days he lived, John I, son of Louis X, was king of France. He thus had the shortest reign of any recognized French king. Because his uncle, Philip V, succeeded him, rumors swirled that Philip had caused John’s death. Another story claimed that a dying child had been substituted for John, who was then raised in Siena. In the mid-1300s, a Sienese man named Giannino di Guccio began claiming that he was John I and traveled through Europe seeking recognition. What happened to him? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Knight

In medieval Europe, incessant private warfare brought about a permanent military class, and the institution of knighthood was well established by the 10th century. After 1100, military tenure was generally subject to the law of primogeniture, which resulted in a class of landless knights, who formed the great military orders of knighthood at the time of the Crusades, including the Knights Templars and the Knights Hospitalers. In modern Britain, women who are knighted are addressed as what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Scientists may have found the key ingredient for a universal flu vaccine, and it comes from llama

Along with soulful eyes, endearingly long necks and and warm fuzzy coats, llamas have a far less appreciated feature: They make an array of immune system antibodies so tiny they can fit into crevices on the surface of an invading virus. That feat could … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Day of the Colombian Woman (1967)

Not much is definitively known about Policarpa Salavarrieta’s early years. Even her name is subject to conjecture. What is undisputed—and secured her a place in the annals of Colombian history and, in 1967, a day commemorating her heroism—is that she sacrificed her life trying to secure Colombia’s independence; she was executed on November 14, 1817, for her activities on behalf of the revolution. Aside from the day of remembrance, what other honors has the Colombian government accorded her? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Sir Frederick Grant Banting (1891)

Banting was a Canadian physician who, with Scottish physiologist John Macleod, won a 1923 Nobel Prize for the discovery of the hormone insulin. Banting and his assistant Charles Best experimented on diabetic dogs, demonstrating that insulin lowered their blood sugar. Insulin was proven effective on humans within months of the first experiments with dogs. In acknowledgment of Best’s work, Banting gave him a share of his portion of the Nobel Prize. What tragic accident took Banting’s life in 1941? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Reduplicative Paramnesia

Reduplicative paramnesia is a condition in which one believes that a place has been duplicated and exists simultaneously in more than one location or that it has been relocated to another site. It is one of the delusional misidentification syndromes, which involve a belief that the identity of a person, object, or place has somehow changed. Highly rare, it is most often observed in brain injury patients who are otherwise logically sound. When was it first observed? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary