Month: May 2023

The Waxhaw Massacre (1780)

The Battle of Waxhaws took place during the American Revolution, when 150 mounted Loyalist soldiers overtook a detachment of about 350 Virginia Continentals in South Carolina. According to American accounts, the Loyalist forces ignored the Continentals’ surrender and massacred them. Americans therefore refer to the incident as the Waxhaw Massacre. The British, meanwhile, call it the Battle of Waxhaw Creek. What future US president helped to treat those wounded in the clash? Discuss

Oswald Spengler (1880)

Spengler was a German historian and philosopher whose major work, The Decline of the West, brought him worldwide fame. In it, he contends that every civilization passes through a life cycle, blossoming and decaying like a natural organism, and that Western culture has passed its creative stage and entered the period of decline. He was ostracized after 1933 for refusing to support Nazi ideas of racial superiority. What major historic event occurred on the ninth anniversary of his death? Discuss

The Battle of Halys (585 BCE)

Also known as the Battle of the Eclipse, the Battle of Halys was fought between the Medes and the Lydians in 585 BCE at the Halys River in what is now Turkey. The final battle of a 15-year war between Alyattes II of Lydia and Cyaxares of Media, the fight ended abruptly due to a total solar eclipse, which was perceived as an omen that the gods wanted the war to end. After a truce, the river was declared the border of the two nations. How is the exact date of the ancient battle known? Discuss

Chestertown Tea Party Festival

When news of the British Boston Port Act reached Chestertown, Maryland, a group of local residents boarded the brigantine Geddes and dumped the tea in the Chester River. Every year during the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, the rebellion is reenacted. The crowd winds its way down High Street to the river, where the “colonists” board a ship and throw its cargo of tea into the river. Other festival events include a colonial parade, exhibits and demonstrations of 18th-century American crafts, clog dancing, horse-and-carriage rides, and tall ship cruises. Discuss

Carl Larsson (1853)

Larsson was a popular and imaginative Swedish illustrator and painter whose watercolors, particularly of his family and home, became popular worldwide. He is perhaps best known, however, for his last monumental work, Midvinterblot, or “Midwinter Sacrifice,” a large oil painting depicting a scene from Norse mythology. Considered Sweden’s most debated painting, it was commissioned by the National Museum in Stockholm but was rejected by the board upon its completion. Where does it now hang? Discuss

Mount Carmel

Mt. Carmel is a mountain ridge in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Long an object of veneration, it was associated in biblical times with the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. From the mountainside vineyards comes the renowned Mt. Carmel wine, and at the foot of Mt. Carmel is the port of Haifa. On its slopes are a Baha’ist garden shrine, with the tombs of Bab-ed-din and of Abdul Baha, and a 19th-century Carmelite monastery. What strategic role did Mt. Carmel play during WWI? Discuss