Hermann Rorschach (1884)

Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist, devised his eponymous inkblot test to gauge the perceptions, intelligence, and emotional traits of his patients and used it to gather data for his 1921 book Psychodiagnostics. Based on the idea that people project their unconscious thoughts onto stimuli, the controversial test requires an individual to look at a series of inkblots one at a time and report what he or she sees in each of them. What was Rorschach’s surprisingly prescient childhood nickname? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Dancehall

Dancehall is a style of music that developed in Jamaican dance halls in the late 1970s and incorporates hip-hop and rhythm and blues elements. Central to the music is the deejay, who sings or raps rhythmic, rapid-fire vocal lines over instrumental tracks that generally consist of a drum pattern and prominent bass. The often profane, misogynistic, violent, and homophobic lyrics of dancehall music have aroused much controversy. How did dancehall influence fashion trends in Jamaica? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapses (1940)

Four months after it opened to traffic, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed into Puget Sound in Washington state. During construction, workers had noticed that the deck demonstrated an unusual amount of vertical movement in windy conditions, but few expected “Galloping Gertie” to suffer such a catastrophic failure. The collapse led to major changes in suspension bridge design. Thankfully, no people were killed when the bridge came down. What was the only fatality caused by the collapse? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Lakshmi Puja

The annual festival in honor of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi is held in the autumn, when Hindus of all castes ask for her blessings. Lights shine from every house, and no one sleeps during the celebrations. Lakshmi is traditionally associated with wealth, prosperity, and good luck. In later Hindu literature, she appears as the dutiful wife of the god Vishnu and is typically portrayed massaging his feet while he rests on the cosmic serpent, Shesa. She remains a popular Hindu goddess to this day in India, where she is a special patron of shopkeepers. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Konrad Lorenz (1903)

As a boy, Lorenz nursed sick animals from the local zoo. He became a zoologist and studied the behavior of birds, emphasizing innate as opposed to learned behaviors and focusing on imprinting, a rapid learning process in young animals that establishes behavior patterns. Lorenz later examined human thought and aggression, making controversial analogies between human and animal behavior in his 1963 book On Aggression. For his scientific efforts, he shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with whom? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Hannibal Lecter

Among the most memorable literary and film villains of all time, Lecter is a character in the series of psychological thriller novels by author Thomas Harris. Introduced in Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer, Lecter is best known from the film adaptation of its sequel, The Silence of the Lambs. In the film, Lecter is portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, who won an Academy Award for his chilling performance. What other actors have played Hannibal Lecter? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary