The Vanishing Hitchhiker

Told across the world in many variations, the vanishing hitchhiker story is a popular urban legend whose most common version involves a lone motorist who picks up a hitchhiker. This hitchhiker later vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle. The driver eventually tracks down the hitchhiker’s relatives only to learn that the person in question died long ago. In other versions of the legend, the hitchhiker predicts a future disaster. What are some early examples of the tale? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

First and Only Flight of the “Spruce Goose” (1947)

A few years before going into complete seclusion, millionaire aviator and airplane manufacturer Howard Hughes built and piloted the only flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules, the largest flying boat—indeed the largest airplane—in history. He designed the seaplane as a troop and materiel transport for the US War Department and manufactured it almost entirely from wood because of wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum. Though nicknamed the “Spruce Goose,” it was actually primarily made of what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Balfour Declaration Day

On November 2, 1917, Arthur J. Balfour, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, sent a letter to Lord Rothschild indicating that the British government was in favor of establishing a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. Although this may not seem to be as significant an event as Israel Independence Day, the Jewish people felt that the British government’s commitment to their cause was very important. The day on which it was made has been kept as a semi-holiday ever since. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Daniel Boone (1734)

Boone was a legendary American frontiersman who blazed a permanent trail across the Appalachian Mountains in 1775. Known as “Wilderness Road,” it became a major route for westward migration in the US. Boone also established Boonesboro, Kentucky, and was captured by Shawnee Indians while trying to defend it. He escaped after five months but moved to the Missouri Territory after losing his land claims in Kentucky. He gained international fame after what British poet mentioned him in an epic? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Moirae

In Greek mythology, the Moirae, also known as the Fates, are the three goddesses who control human lives. They are usually depicted as old women: Clotho, who spins the web of life; Lachesis, who measures its length; and Atropos, who cuts it. Together they determine the length of each person’s life as well as its share of suffering. Their Roman equivalents are Nona, Decuma, and Morta—meaning “Ninth,” “Tenth,” and “Death,” respectively. What similar figures are found in Norse mythology? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Ivy Mike: First Successful Test of a Hydrogen Bomb (1952)

Years before the atomic bomb was developed, Edward Teller, Enrico Fermi, and other American nuclear physicists set their sights on developing a weapon with even greater destructive potential—the hydrogen bomb. Their designs would not be realized, however, until after the development of the A-bomb, which is needed to generate the temperatures required to initiate H-bombs’ fusion reactions. How did Teller, thousands of miles away during the “Ivy Mike” test, know almost immediately of its success? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary