Month: August 2022

The Statue of Liberty's Cornerstone Is Laid (1884)

The Statue of Liberty—officially “Liberty Enlightening the World”—is located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It was a gift to the US from France to commemorate France’s alliance with the colonies during the American Revolution. Though it is now an iconic landmark, many forget that “Lady Liberty” also served as a functioning lighthouse from 1886 to 1902. Designed by French sculptor F.A. Bartholdi, the statue depicts Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom. Who served as Bartholdi’s model? Discuss

Oswaldo Cruz (1872)

Cruz was a Brazilian physician, scientist, and the founder of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute for research and development in biomedical sciences in Rio de Janeiro. As the Director General of Public Health, Cruz took strong measures to combat the bubonic plague, smallpox, and yellow fever in Brazil. He instituted sanitary reforms that included isolating the sick and exterminating the rat population in Rio. What happened when he tried to reinstate a law imposing mandatory smallpox vaccination? Discuss

The Giant Panda

The black-and-white giant panda lives in the mountain forests of central China. Though it primarily feeds on bamboo, the bear-like mammal’s digestive system is similar to that of a carnivore, and it must therefore spend as much as 16 hours a day eating up to 40 lb (18 kg) of bamboo leaves, stems, and shoots in order to get enough nutrients. While adult giant pandas are certainly physically imposing, the “giant” part of their name also serves to differentiate them from what other kind of panda? Discuss

Feudalism Abolished in France (1789)

The monarchical absolutism of King Louis XIV of France destroyed the roots of feudalism, but outward feudal forms persisted and became increasingly burdensome. Therefore, just weeks after the storming of the Bastille, the National Assembly held a meeting in which the nobles and clergy—driven partly by fear and partly by an outburst of idealism—relinquished their manorial rights within the course of a few hours. What are the National Assembly’s August 1789 decisions collectively called? Discuss

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792)

Shelley is considered one of the great English Romantic poets. He is known for his masterpiece lyrical drama Prometheus Unbound and his poems “To a Skylark” and “Ozymandias.” A rebellious youth, Shelley was expelled from Oxford for his part in authoring an atheist tract. He married Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, now famed as Mary Shelley, after his first wife drowned herself in 1816. Shelley himself drowned just six years later at age 29. Why do some think his death was not accidental? Discuss