Month: August 2023

Baltic Way: Millions Join Hands (1989)

In 1989, more than a million people formed a human chain more than 373 miles (600 km) long across the three Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Known as the “Baltic Way,” the demonstration marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, an agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany that secretly divided Poland and gave the Soviet Union control of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland. When did the Soviet Union finally admit the existence of the secret protocol? Discuss

Eleftherios Venizelos (1864)

Often called “the maker of modern Greece,” Venizelos was a Greek revolutionary who became a prominent statesman. After leading an assembly to declare the union of Crete with Greece in 1905, he went to Athens and won an extraordinary popular following. During his first term as Greek premier, he completed the revision of the constitution and led Greece through the Balkan Wars, in which its territory and population were doubled. Facing rebellion in 1935, he fled to France. When did he die? Discuss

Annie Leibovitz

Throughout her childhood, Annie’s family moved frequently to accommodate her father’s military career. Her artistic involvement flourished in high school, but it was a visit to her family in the Philippines that sparked her passion for photography. After spending time on a kibbutz in Israel, Annie returned to the US and began photographing for Rolling Stone magazine. Her intimate portraits of celebrities helped define the magazine’s look. At what age did she give birth to her first child? Discuss

Storm Botnet Sends Record 57 Million Emails (2007)

A botnet is a collection of software robots, or bots, that run automatically on groups of “zombie” computers controlled remotely by hackers. One of the most notorious botnets in hacking history, the so-called “Storm” botnet was named for the storm-related subject lines initially employed by its infectious emails. Of the billions of virus messages sent out by this botnet, 57 million were sent in one day alone. By September 2007, the botnet is believed to have been running on how many computers? Discuss

Dorothy Parker (1893)

Parker was an American short-story and verse writer who gained an almost legendary reputation for her sardonic wit while serving as drama critic for Vanity Fair and book critic for The New Yorker. She went on to write stage and screen plays and was twice nominated for an Academy Award. In the 1950s, she was blacklisted by Hollywood for her suspected ties to Communism. Parker was a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, dubbed “The Vicious Circle” by members. What was it? Discuss

Papyrus of the Nile Delta

Papyrus was an early form of paper made from the pith of the papyrus plant, a wetland sedge that once flourished in the Nile Delta. Though its earliest use has been traced to Ancient Egypt, it was also widely used throughout the Mediterranean region, inland parts of Europe, and southwest Asia. Making a sheet of papyrus involves a complex process of layering the inner piths of the stems, then hammering, drying, and polishing them. What unlikely article of clothing was made from papyrus? Discuss