Month: January 2024

The Catch

During Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, Willie Mays of the New York Giants made one of the greatest and most famous plays in the history of baseball. In the eighth inning, with the score tied 2–2, Mays tracked down a deep fly ball and caught it over his shoulder before spinning and hurling it to the infield to keep the runners in place and prevent the Cleveland Indians from taking the lead. The tied game went into extra innings and ended when which team finally scored its winning runs? Discuss

Maria Montessori Opens Her First School (1907)

Montessori was an educator and the first woman to receive a medical degree in Italy. While working in a clinic for mentally disabled children, she developed a method of teaching that involves immersing children in an environment filled with “learning games” that naturally motivate learning and allow them to develop at their own pace. She opened her first children’s school in 1907 and spent the next 40 years traveling and promoting her method. How many times was she nominated for the Nobel Prize? Discuss

Dezome-shiki (New Year's Parade of Firemen)

Each year on January 6, the Tokyo Fire Department hosts a parade of vehicles and a display of ladder stunts to remind citizens of the dangers of fire. The event dates from the Edo Period. In those days, ladders were indispensable tools, and the firefighters needed great agility and strength to scale them. The highlight of the present-day parade hearkens back to this tradition, as men dressed from the Edo Period perform acrobatic stunts on bamboo ladders. The event also features large-scale fire-fighting and emergency drills, and a parade of more than 100 fire engines and helicopters. Discuss

Sun Myung Moon (1920)

Moon was an engineering student and dock worker before founding the Unification Church—based on his interpretation of Christianity—in South Korea in 1954. After building a multimillion-dollar business empire, he introduced the movement to the United States in the 1960s. Moon, who claims to be the Messiah and presides over ceremonies often called “mass weddings,” is considered a controversial figure, and his movement is often viewed as a cult. In 1982, he was convicted of what crime? Discuss

Mandala Airlines Flight 091

On September 5, 2005, a Jakarta-bound jetliner operated by Mandala Airlines crashed into a heavily populated residential area mere seconds after taking off from Polonia International Airport. At least 39 people on the ground and 104 passengers reportedly died in the incident. The plane had been inspected only a few months earlier and was deemed airworthy. Some suspect that the crash resulted from illegal overloading of the flight. Supposedly, more than two tons of what was onboard? Discuss

Louis XV of France Survives Assassination Attempt (1757)

Louis XV was king of France from 1715 to 1774. An orphan from age three, Louis succeeded to the throne upon the death of his great-grandfather Louis XIV, under the regency of the duke of Orléans. In 1757, the unpopular king was stabbed in the side by Robert Damiens. Convinced he was dying, Louis called for a confessor and begged his wife to forgive his infidelities. The small blade had, however, done little damage, and the king survived. How did Voltaire mock the king’s allegedly shallow wound? Discuss