Month: April 2023

Teddy Bears

The teddy bear is a traditional stuffed toy bear for children. One legend has it that the name originates from an incident involving Theodore Roosevelt, whose attendants found and caught an old injured bear during a hunting trip. “Teddy” refused to kill the animal, however, calling it “unsportsmanlike.” “Teddy’s Bear” was immediately publicized by political cartoonists, and its stuffed animal form began selling in stores shortly thereafter. Where is the world’s first teddy bear museum located? Discuss

Expo 67 Opens to Public in Montreal, Canada (1967)

Commonly known as Expo 67, the 1967 International and Universal Exposition drew more than 50 million visitors. Part of Canada’s centennial year celebration, Expo 67 featured 90 pavilions representing the “Man and His World” theme, including a geodesic dome designed by architect Buckminster Fuller and the Habitat 67 housing complex designed by architect Moshe Safdie, which is still occupied. Though considered the 20th century’s most successful World’s Fair, Expo 67 had a deficit of how much? Discuss

Yves Klein (1928)

Klein, a French painter and performance artist, was a leader of the avant-garde movement called Nouveau Réalisme and greatly influenced the development of Minimalism. In the 1950s, he began to exhibit nonobjective monochrome paintings and from 1957 onward used only a shade of blue now known as International Klein Blue. His 1958 exhibition The Void featured an empty, white-painted gallery. He experimented with several unorthodox methods to create his works. What were his “living brushes”? Discuss

The Amish

The Amish are an orthodox Anabaptist sect that separated from the Mennonites in the late 17th century and live today primarily in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The Amish separate themselves from mainstream society for religious reasons: they do not join the military, they draw no Social Security, and they refuse financial assistance from the government. Though the Amish learn English in school, most speak a German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch. What are Hochmut and Demut? Discuss

Steamboat Sultana Sinks (1865)

The steamboat Sultana was a Mississippi River paddle-wheeler destroyed when one of its boilers exploded near Memphis, Tennessee. The greatest maritime disaster in US history, an estimated 1,800 of its 2,400 passengers, many of whom were Union soldiers who had just been released from Confederate prison camps, were killed when it sank. Bodies of the victims continued to be found downriver for months, yet the disaster received somewhat diminished attention since it occurred soon after what? Discuss

Adamantios Korais (1748)

Korais was a Greek scholar whose work is credited with laying the foundations of Modern Greek language and literature. A witness to the French Revolution, he helped to awaken similar nationalistic aspirations in his countrymen through his writings. One of his greatest achievements was his creation of a new Greek literary language, which he set down in the first Modern Greek dictionary, Atakta. To which historic figures has Korais been compared? Discuss