Month: February 2024

Cato Street Conspiracy: Plot to Kill British Cabinet Ministers Foiled (1820)

In 1816, Arthur Thistlewood, a member of the revolutionary Spencean Society in London, organized a public meeting at Spa Fields, at which a revolution was to be started. However, the meeting was easily dispersed, and Thistlewood was arrested and narrowly escaped conviction for treason. Undeterred, Thistlewood later plotted the assassination of cabinet members. The government, apprised of the conspiracy, surprised the plotters at their arsenal in a Cato Street loft. What became of Thistlewood? Discuss

Pope Paul II (1417)

Born in Venice as Pietro Barbo, Pope Paul II was the successor of Pope Pius II, and the nephew of Pope Eugene IV. A Renaissance pope, he patronized printing, beautified and improved Rome, and collected antiquities. Like Pius II, he was involved in struggles with the Bohemian George of Podebrad, who was the leader of the Utraquists, or the moderate Hussites, in the wars between Hussites and Catholics. Paul excommunicated George in 1466. Who succeeded Paul II as pope? Discuss

Biomes

A biome is a large community of plants and animals that occupies a distinct geographic region. Terrestrial biomes, typically defined by their climate and dominant vegetation, include grassland, tundra, desert, tropical rainforest, and deciduous and coniferous forests. The two basic aquatic biomes, freshwater and marine, can be further broken down into categories such as lakes and rivers or pelagic, benthic, and intertidal zones. At what latitudes does biodiversity generally increase? Discuss

The "Miracle on Ice" (1980)

Voted the greatest sports moment of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated magazine, the unlikely victory of the US men’s hockey team over its Soviet counterpart during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games has been called the “Miracle on Ice.” The Soviet team was considered the world’s best international hockey team, while the US team was made up of amateur and collegiate players. Who scored the decisive goal in the game, allowing the US to go on to the gold-medal game against Finland? Discuss

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788)

An unhappy and solitary man, Schopenhauer was a German philosopher whose works earned him the title “the philosopher of pessimism.” The bias of his own temperament and experience was crucial to the development of his celebrated philosophy—reflections on the theory of knowledge and the philosophy of nature, aesthetics, and ethics—which he presented with such clarity and skill as to gain eventual recognition as one of the great philosophers. Schopenhauer was heavily influenced by what Hindu texts? Discuss

Anarchist Catalonia

Anarchism, a political theory that favors the abolition of all forms of government, started a profound libertarian revolution throughout Spain. During the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, Catalonia was established as an anarchist stronghold and much of the region’s economy was put under worker control: factories were run through worker committees, agrarian areas became collectivized, and even hotels and restaurants were managed by their workers. When did Catalonia fall to Spain’s nationalists? Discuss