Month: December 2022

What Is Organic Food?

Growing health consciousness has caused organic food to skyrocket in popularity. Proponents of organic farming claim that it yields more nutritious, safer, and tastier food because it is not prepared with the synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, medicated feed, and chemicals that are often used in food processing. Food whose ingredients are at least 95% organic by weight may carry the “USDA ORGANIC” label. Who is credited with coining the term “organic farming”? Discuss

The Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Early American settlers in the western territories depended on the Mississippi River’s port of New Orleans for commerce. When Spain retroceded New Orleans to France in 1800, Americans feared their access to the river would be blocked, so President Thomas Jefferson sent negotiators to broker a deal for the port city. Why did Napoleon ultimately sell the entire Louisiana territory, including New Orleans, to the US for only about 4 cents per acre, or a sum total of $15 million? Discuss

Samuel Mudd (1833)

Mudd was the physician who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, just hours after Booth fled the crime scene. A Confederate sympathizer, Mudd was accused of aiding Booth’s escape and tried along with Booth’s other accomplices. Throughout, Mudd maintained that he had not recognized the disguised Booth, an acquaintance of his, and had been unaware of the assassination, but he was nonetheless convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Why was he pardoned in 1869? Discuss

The Ganges River

Sacred to Hindus, the 1,560-mile (2,510-km) Ganges River in northern India rises from the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas and empties into the Bay of Bengal after branching into many distributaries. Although the river is highly polluted due to its proximity to major population centers, a rare species of freshwater dolphin and a critically endangered type of shark live in its waters, and its fertile plain supports many crops. About how many people are thought to live in the Ganges basin? Discuss

phylactery

Definition: (noun) Either of two small leather boxes, each containing strips of parchment inscribed with quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures, one of which is strapped to the forehead and the other to the left arm; traditionally worn by Jewish men during morning worship, except on the Sabbath and holidays.

Synonyms: tefillin.

Usage: Just before his bar mitzvah, David got a brand new set of phylacteries.
Discuss

President Taft Pardons William H. Van Schaick (1912)

More than 1,000 people died when the General Slocum, a passenger steamship, caught fire in New York’s East River in 1904. It was the city’s worst loss-of-life disaster until the attacks of September 11, 2001. Van Schaick, the ship’s captain, was convicted of negligence and failure to maintain fire safety equipment and received a 10-year sentence. He was paroled after serving 3½ years in prison and later pardoned by President Taft. Why were most of the passengers unable to escape the fire? Discuss

Reggie White (1961)

Affectionately nicknamed the “Minister of Defense,” a reference to his two very different careers, White was an ordained Baptist minister and a professional football player. The defensive lineman played in the National Football League for 15 seasons between 1985 and 2000, in that time leading the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowls, including one victory, and claiming the league record for sacks. How was White affected by a rash of church arsons in the mid-90s? Discuss