Month: October 2023

Supernova 1604 First Observed (1604)

A supernova is a rare celestial phenomenon involving the explosion of a star, resulting in an extremely bright, short-lived object that emits vast amounts of energy. The last supernova to be observed in the Milky Way was seen in 1604 by Johannes Kepler and was used by Galileo, at his trial, as evidence against the presupposition that the universe never changes. Visible to the naked eye, it was brighter at its peak than any other star in the night sky. How far from Earth was this supernova? Discuss

St. Denis's Day

Also known as St. Dionysius, St. Denis is the patron saint of France. According to legend, Pope Clement sent him to what is now France to establish the Church there, during the reign of Emperor Decius (249-251), but the pagans who greeted him did not treat him well. The most widely repeated legend is that they beheaded him on Martyr’s Hill—the place now known as Montmartre in Paris—but he miraculously picked up his head and carried it for two miles before expiring at the site where the Church of St. Denis was later built. Discuss

Guillermo del Toro (1964)

Del Toro is an Academy Award-nominated Mexican filmmaker whose films often explore the darker elements of fantasy and reflect his fascination with “insects, clockwork, monsters, dark places, and unborn things.” His most acclaimed films to date, Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone, both feature children living under authoritarian rule while facing frightening supernatural entities and have been compared with what film, considered to be the finest Spanish film of the 1970s? Discuss

The Sea Otter

Sea otters are carnivorous, aquatic mammals. Found in and around the kelp beds of the N Pacific, the sea otter is the only exclusively marine species in the otter family. Sea Otters present a rare example of mammalian tool use. They use rocks as tools to pry open food and as weapons to blind their enemies. Hunted to near extinction for their luxuriously dense fur, the otters are now protected under what international treaty? Discuss

The Great Chicago Fire (1871)

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned for more than two days and destroyed about four square miles of the city. It killed hundreds of people, left 90,000 homeless, and destroyed some $200 million worth of property. Originally composed of mostly wooden structures, the city was rebuilt with stone and steel and became a center of industry. According to early accounts of the disaster, the blaze began in a barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O’Leary. What supposedly caused the fire? Discuss

Henri Louis Le Châtelier (1850)

Le Châtelier was a French chemist best known for devising Le Châtelier’s principle, which makes it possible to predict the effect that a change in conditions—such as temperature, pressure, or concentration of components—will have on a chemical reaction. The principle states that a system in equilibrium, when subjected to a perturbation, will respond in a way that tends to minimize its effect and restore equilibrium. In 1928, Le Châtelier published a book on what system of scientific management? Discuss

Escapology

Classically, escapology is the art of escaping from rope bindings. It has since evolved to include escapes from a variety of restraints, including straightjackets, cages, chains, and prisons. In the early 1900s, Harry Houdini, a master escapologist, began performing his “Chinese Water Torture Cell” act. The escape required a bound Houdini to hold his breath for more than three minutes while freeing himself from a locked, water-filled glass tank. Illusionists before Houdini had relied on what? Discuss