Month: February 2024

First Pan American Games Are Held in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1951)

The Pan American Games is a multi-sport event open to competitors from all nations of the Western Hemisphere. Patterned after the Olympic Games and sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, the games are held every four years in the year preceding the Summer Olympic Games. Argentina took home more medals than any other country in the first Pan American Games, however, the US has since become the overall medal leader, with a current total of 3,915. Who lights the Pan American torch? Discuss

George Harrison (1943)

Harrison was a British rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a member of the Beatles from 1962 to 1970. Although John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the Beatles’ main songwriters, Harrison, “the quiet Beatle,” generally wrote or sang lead on a few songs per album. His later compositions included hits such as “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something.” Harrison also penned “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” which features what guest musician on lead guitar? Discuss

Aron Ralston

The 2004 book Between a Rock and a Hard Place chronicles the experiences of Aron Ralston, an American mountain climber who survived a nearly fatal hike in the Utah desert. While Ralston was canyoneering alone in May 2003, his right forearm became trapped by a falling boulder. Unable to lift the rock, Ralston was forced to amputate his own arm in order to free himself. How many days did Ralston wait before beginning the terrible operation? Discuss

The Battle of Los Angeles (1942)

The “Battle of Los Angeles” is the name given by contemporary sources to the imaginary enemy attack and subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage that took place over Los Angeles, California, just months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Reports of an imminent strike on the city led to the sounding of air raid sirens, the imposition of a blackout, and the firing of 1,400 shells at supposed Japanese aircraft, killing several US civilians. What may have actually prompted the bombardment? Discuss

Winslow Homer (1836)

A preeminent figure in American art, Homer was a largely self-taught landscape painter and printmaker. He trained as a lithographer, then became a freelance illustrator. As a correspondent for Harper’s Weekly, he won international acclaim for his depictions of the Civil War battlefront. In 1876, he abandoned illustration to devote himself to painting, later settling in coastal Maine, where the local people and seascapes became the focus of his art. What are some of his most famous works? Discuss

Thales

Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, was a pre-Socratic philosopher and scientist. He is traditionally considered the first Western philosopher and a founder of geometry and abstract astronomy. As a philosophical materialist, Thales theorized that water was the first principle of all things. He speculated that the Earth floated on water, and so proposed an explanation for earthquakes. A capable astronomer, Thales is said to have predicted what celestial phenomenon in 585 BCE? Discuss