Month: April 2023

The World's First Space Station Is Launched (1971)

The world’s first space station, the Soviet Salyut 1, was launched in 1971. The cosmonauts aboard the Soyuz 11 spacecraft were the first to enter, remaining aboard for 22 days. By 1982, five more Salyut space stations had been orbited successfully, two of them for military purposes. By rotating the crews regularly, the Soviets were able to staff the stations for extended periods. All the Salyut space stations decayed and are no longer in orbit. What happened to Salyut 1? Discuss

Cerealia

Ceres was the ancient Roman goddess of grain and of harvests, often identified with the Greek goddess Demeter. The festival known as Cerealia was observed at various locations only by Roman matrons, who, for several days preceding the festival, abstained from wine and other carnal pleasures. People who were in mourning were not allowed to appear at the celebration. For this reason, the Cerealia was not observed after the Battle of Cannae, when 50,000 Roman troops were killed by Hannibal. Discuss

Glenn Seaborg (1912)

In 1940, American chemist Glenn Seaborg and his colleagues discovered plutonium. He soon joined the Manhattan Project and was instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb, which he unsuccessfully pressed President Truman not to use on civilian targets. In 1951, he and Edwin McMillan shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on transuranium elements. During his lifetime, Seaborg held dozens of patents—among them the only patents ever issued for what? Discuss

Voodoo

Voodoo refers to West African religious beliefs and practices that also have adherents in the New World. Voodoo believers are most numerous in Haiti and Benin, where they enjoy official government recognition. Voodoo contends that all of nature is controlled by spiritual forces which must be acknowledged and honored through offerings and animal sacrifice. Voodoo’s incarnation in the American South is often called Louisiana Voodoo. What is a gris-gris? Discuss

WWI: French Pilot Roland Garros Lands Behind Enemy Lines (1915)

One of the first flying aces in history, Roland Garros was a French aviator and WWI fighter pilot. Early in the war, Garros fitted a machine gun to the front of his plane so that he could shoot while flying and soon downed three German aircrafts. While on a mission in 1915, his fuel line clogged, and he was forced to land behind German lines. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war until 1918, when he managed to escape and rejoin the French army. What happened when he returned to combat? Discuss

Haile Gebrselassie (1973)

Widely considered one of the greatest distance runners in history, Haile Gebrselassie is an Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. Over the course of his career, he has set more than 20 records and won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles, achieving major competition wins in outdoor, indoor, cross country, and road running races as short as 1,500 meters and as long as full marathons. In 1995, he beat the world record for the 5,000-meter run by how many seconds? Discuss

Keffiyeh

The keffiyeh is a traditional Arab headdress, made of a square of cloth that is folded and wrapped in various styles around the head. It is commonly worn in areas with arid climates as protection from direct sun exposure and blown dust and sand. The plain white keffiyeh is popular in the Gulf states, while the red-and-white keffiyeh is most strongly associated with what country? Discuss