Month: October 2023

HMAS Australia Is First Ship Ever Hit by Kamikaze Attack (1944)

In Japanese, kamikaze means “divine wind,” a reference to the typhoon that foiled the Mongol invasion of Japan in 1281. In World War II, the term was used for Japanese pilots who made deliberate suicidal crashes into enemy targets. Such attacks sank 34 ships and damaged hundreds, killing thousands. In the lead up to the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Australia became perhaps the first ship damaged by a kamikaze. How many kamikaze attacks did it survive? Discuss

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772)

One of the most versatile and influential figures in the English Romantic movement, Coleridge was a poet and critic who perfected a sensuous lyricism in his poetry that was echoed by many later poets. His most famous works include “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Kubla Khan.” Known for his influential lectures on Shakespeare, he later wrote Biographia Literaria, the most significant work of general literary criticism of the Romantic period. To what drug was Coleridge addicted? Discuss

Face Blindness

Prosopagnosia is a disorder of face perception where the ability to recognize faces is impaired, while the ability to recognize objects may be relatively intact. Because prosopagnosia is a variegated disorder, with patients exhibiting different types and levels of impairment, face perception is now theorized as utilizing a specialized brain system and involving multiple stages that can be interrupted in many ways. What techniques do prosopagnosia sufferers use to recognize people? Discuss

The Johnny Bright Incident (1951)

The Johnny Bright Incident was an allegedly racially-motivated on-field assault against black football star Johnny Bright by white player Wilbanks Smith during a college football game between Bright’s Drake University and Smith’s Oklahoma A&M. The assault—which resulted in a broken jaw for Bright—was captured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo sequence. The incident highlighted the racial tensions of the times and even provoked changes in college football rules. What happened to Smith? Discuss

Guatemala Revolution Day

On October 20, 1944, university students and military leaders aligned to overthrow the dictator Jorge Ubico. Guatemalans fondly remember the replacement government and its executive leader, Juan José Arévalo, who implemented a series of successful labor and agrarian reforms. Music and fireworks mark the day’s lively celebrations, the grandest of which are held in the Plaza Mayor in Guatemala City. It is also common on this day for activists to exercise their free speech, a human right that Arévalo championed. Some protests draw thousands of people and extend into the next day. Discuss

Sir Christopher Wren (1632)

Though now known as the greatest architect of the English baroque style, Wren was first a celebrated astronomer and mathematician who was one of the founders of the Royal Society. His architectural career began in 1661 when King Charles II appointed him assistant to the royal architect. Wren went on to help rebuild more than 50 churches destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. He also designed Saint Paul’s Cathedral, where he is buried. What famous epitaph appears on Wren’s burial marker? Discuss

Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia was an Alexandrian Neoplatonic philosopher and mathematician renowned for her learning, eloquence, and beauty. She became head of Alexandria’s Platonist school in about 400 CE, lecturing there on mathematics and philosophy. Several works are attributed to her by later sources, including commentaries on Ptolemy’s works, but none have survived. Her murder, the subject of many conspiracy theories, was a brutal event. How did religion factor into Hypatia’s lynching? Discuss