Month: May 2023

Operation Anthropoid: Reinhard Heydrich Is Assassinated (1942)

Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the Czechoslovak-British plan to assassinate top Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich, a chief planner of the so-called Final Solution whose ruthlessness and numerous execution orders earned him the nickname “the Hangman of Europe.” In May 1942, Heydrich was ambushed by Czech patriots and wounded. A week later, he died from his injuries. This was one of the only successful assassinations of a top-ranking Nazi leader during the war. How did the Nazis retaliate? Discuss

Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894)

Louis-Ferdinand Céline was the pen name of French writer and doctor Louis-Ferdinand Destouches. Considered one of the most influential French writers of the 20th century, he developed a writing style that aimed to capture the rhythm of everyday speech. He remains, however, a controversial figure, partly due to his virulent anti-Semitism. After World War II, France convicted him of being a Nazi collaborator but later granted him amnesty. What punctuation mark was he especially fond of? Discuss

The Everglades

This marshy, low-lying subtropical savanna area in S. Florida extends from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay. Characterized by water, sawgrass, palms, pine, and mangrove forests, the Everglades receives an annual average rainfall of more than 60 in. (152 cm), mainly in the summer. The wildlife-rich area is home to endangered species like the Florida panther, American crocodile, and manatee. In the late 1830s the Everglades was the scene of military operations against what Native American people? Discuss

Dred Scott Emancipated by His Original Owners (1857)

Scott was an American slave who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom in the famous Dred Scott v. Sandford case. Though he argued that having lived in states and territories where slavery was illegal rendered him a free man, the Supreme Court ruled against him in 1857, finding that no person of African ancestry could claim citizenship in the US or bring suit in federal court. Shortly thereafter, Scott was returned to his original owners and emancipated. What did he do after he was freed? Discuss

John Wayne (1907)

An American actor and enduring icon of rugged masculinity, Wayne is best known for playing the archetypal Western hero in films like Stagecoach, The Alamo, and Rio Bravo. He appeared in some 250 films before his work in True Grit earned him his first—and only—Academy Award. An outspoken supporter of conservative political causes, notably America’s role in Vietnam, Wayne also appeared in a number of war films, including The Green Berets. What was his real name? Discuss

Pantone Inc.

Pantone, Inc. is a multi-billion dollar corporation that publishes the Pantone Guides, which are used by graphic designers and others to ‘color match’ specific colors when a design enters production stage. The Pantone Color Matching System works within the existing color systems, such as the CMYK system, but it has not yet been linked with screen-based colors. In recent years, the parliament of what country debated a petition to define the blue in its flag as “Pantone 300?” Discuss