Month: October 2023

Yorktown Day

On October 19, 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington’s Allied troops at Yorktown, Virginia. The Battle of Yorktown is widely considered to mark the end of the Revolutionary War. Yorktown Day activities held at the Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown include a commemorative placing of a wreath at the French Monument and the Monument to Alliance and Victory. There are also 18th-century tactical demonstrations, a parade of military and civilian units, and musical presentations by fife and drum units. Discuss

Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown (1876)

Nicknamed “Three Finger” by the press because a farming accident in his youth cost him parts of two fingers on his right hand, Brown was one of the top Major League Baseball pitchers at the turn of the 20th century. He used his injury to his advantage, developing a unique grip on the ball that produced an unusual amount of spin, baffling batters. Over the course of his major league career, Brown won 239 games and lost just 130. With what team did he win two World Series championships? Discuss

Paul Bunyan

Paul Bunyan is a mythical lumberjack and American folk hero known for his incredible strength and massive size. His oversized companion, Babe the Blue Ox, reportedly measured 42 ax handles and a plug of tobacco between his horns. The first newspaper article about Bunyan was published in 1906, and later pamphlets by William Laughead popularized the Paul Bunyan story and added to the myth. How do these legends account for the creation of the Grand Canyon, Mount Hood, and Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes? Discuss

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Atatürk, or “Father Turk,” began his career in the service of the Ottoman military, but he soon became the Empire’s greatest opponent and went on to lead the Turkish War of Independence. In the early 1920s, Atatürk led a military and political campaign that resulted in the Treaty of Lausanne and the founding of the Turkish republic. In 1923, Atatürk was elected the Republic’s first president. He then set out on an energetic program of Westernization. How did he reform the Turkish language? Discuss

French King Louis XIII Crowned in Rheims (1610)

At the age of nine, Louis XIII succeeded his father, Henry IV, under the regency of his mother, Marie de’ Medici. Even after Louis was declared of age in 1614, his mother arranged his marriage to Anne of Austria in 1615 and continued to govern until 1617. Resentful of her power, Louis exiled her, but the two were reconciled by her principal adviser Cardinal Richelieu, whom Louis later named chief minister. Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu are among the central characters of what novel? Discuss