Month: December 2023

First Version of Perl Programming Language Released (1987)

Perl is a high-level computer programming language written by Larry Wall that combines syntax from several Unix utilities and languages. Introduced in 1987, Perl is designed to handle a variety of system administrator functions and provides comprehensive string handling functions. Its use has grown significantly since its adoption as the language of choice of many Web developers, and Perl is now one of the most popular languages for writing CGI scripts. How did the language get its name? Discuss

Robert Moses (1888)

For 40 years, Moses—”master builder” of mid-20th-century New York—held a series of municipal positions that allowed him to radically change the city and its environs by creating a system of parkways, bridges, tunnels, and housing projects. Arguably the most powerful person in state government from the 1930s to the 1950s, he is credited with building 416 miles of parkway, 13 major bridges, and 658 playgrounds and setting aside over 2 million acres of parkland. Why was his approach controversial? Discuss

Ferromagnetism

Ferromagnetism is a form of magnetism that can be acquired in an external magnetic field and is usually retained in its absence. Thus, ferromagnetic materials like iron and nickel are used to make permanent magnets. This type of magnetism is caused by spinning electrons in the atoms of the material, which act as tiny weak magnets. They align parallel to each other within small regions of the material to form areas of stronger magnetism. What other substances exhibit ferromagnetism? Discuss

Prime Minister of Australia Disappears (1967)

Harold Holt was an Australian political leader who served in a number of cabinet positions before becoming prime minister in 1966, upon the retirement of Robert Gordon Menzies, whom Holt succeeded as Liberal party leader. During his short tenure, he increased the number of Australian troops in South Vietnam, a policy that caused controversy. He disappeared while swimming in rough surf in 1967 and is believed to have drowned. What Australian urban legends are based on Holt’s disappearance? Discuss

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807)

Whittier was an American Quaker poet and reformer. He had little formal education but was an avid reader, and he published his first volume of poems in 1831. He declared himself an abolitionist in 1833 and worked to promote the cause as a politician, poet, and editor of antislavery periodicals. After slavery was abolished in the US, he turned his focus to writing poems that vividly portray rural New England life. Which of his poems was mistakenly attributed to Ethan Allen for nearly sixty years? Discuss

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu mystic, a disciple of Ramakrishna, and one of the most influential spiritual leaders of the Vedanta philosophy. In 1890, Vivekananda began a journey that would take him throughout India as a wandering monk. A few years later, he represented Hinduism at the US World Parliament of Religions and is credited with helping kindle Western interest in the religion. His Ramakrishna Mission, now one of the largest Hindu monastic orders in India, was founded on what principle? Discuss