Month: December 2018

Madam C.J. Walker (1867)

Thought to be America’s first black female millionaire, this daughter of ex-slaves was orphaned at 7, working at 10, married at 14, and a widow with an infant at 20. She worked as a domestic and laundress and in her scant spare time developed a treatment to stop hair loss in African-American women and create smooth, shiny coiffures. She soon expanded her product line, and, by 1917, her cosmetics empire was the largest black-owned business in the US. Who took over the company when she died? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Slime Molds

Possessing complex life cycles that can be divided into both animallike and plantlike phases, slime molds are any of about 500 species of primitive organisms that contain true nuclei. Consequently, they have gone from being regarded as fungi to being classified within the kingdom Protista. They typically thrive in dark, cool, moist places, like forest floors, and feed on living microorganisms, such as bacteria, yeasts, and decaying vegetation. Can slime molds move on their own? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Environmental Activist Chico Mendes Is Assassinated (1988)

Since 1985, swaths of the Amazon region have been cleared for cattle ranching and farming on an unprecedented scale. Mendes, a Brazilian environmental activist and unionist, fought to stop the deforestation. He managed to keep local rancher Darly Alves da Silva from clearing an area designated as a reserve, even facilitating a warrant for da Silva’s arrest, but it was never acted upon, and da Silva was implicated in Mendes’s 1988 assassination. Where was Mendes killed? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Forefathers’ Day

Observed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and by various New England societies throughout the country, Forefathers’ Day commemorates the landing of the Pilgrims, who arrived in 1620 on the Mayflower and established the second English colony in North America. The Old Colony Club of Plymouth was the first group to observe the anniversary in 1769, and members still celebrate Forefathers’ Day on December 22. Wearing top hats and led by a drummer, they march down the main street of Plymouth. After firing a small cannon, they return to their Club for breakfast and toasts to the Pilgrims. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960)

A 1980s art star whose rise and fall were rapid, dramatic, and emblematic of the era, Basquiat started out as a street artist before being “discovered” by the art establishment. He created vigorously spontaneous works in paint, collage, and crayon on unprimed canvas that featured crude, angry, rawly powerful figures and graffiti-like text. He died of an overdose at 27, just a few years after meeting with mainstream success and months after the death of what other artist, his friend and mentor? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Aureus

The aureus, Latin for “golden,” was a gold coin of ancient Rome. It initially consisted of about 8 grams of nearly pure gold and was valued at 25 silver denarii. It was regularly issued from the 1st century BCE to the beginning of the 4th century CE, when Constantine replaced it with the solidus to account for runaway inflation: in the 23 years between 301 CE and 324 CE, the relative value of the aureus jumped from about 833 to 4,350 denarii. By 356 CE, one solidus was worth how many denarii? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Introduction of the Modern Crossword Puzzle (1913)

Though a type of crossword puzzle has been traced back to the ancient Egyptians, 20th-century British-American journalist Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of the modern form of the crossword. Within a decade, such puzzles were being published in most leading US newspapers. The word game was further popularized when Simon & Schuster published a crossword puzzle book in 1924. The craze soon spread to England and beyond. What name did Wynne initially give his word game? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Doleing Day

It was customary at one time in England on St. Thomas‘s Day for the poorer inhabitants of the parish to call on their wealthier neighbors and receive a gift or “dole” of food or money. In return, they would give their benefactors a sprig of holly or mistletoe. The custom of “going a-gooding,” as it was called, gave rise to the name Gooding Day in parts of Sussex; in other areas it was referred to as Mumping (Begging) Day, since those who had to beg were said to be “on the mump.” Children would often spend St. Thomas’s Day begging for apples. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary