Month: May 2024

Capacocha: Pre-Columbian Child Sacrifice

The ritualistic killing of children was a common religious practice in some of the prominent pre-Colombian cultures. The Olmec civilization, which flourished in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico between 1200 and 400 BCE, may have been one such society. Evidence of the brutal practice was found in the El Manatí sacrificial bog, where the skeletons of an unknown number of infants were uncovered. How many times a year did the Aztecs celebrate religious festivals with child sacrifice? Discuss

Girolamo Savonarola Executed for Heresy (1498)

Savonarola was an Italian preacher and religious reformer. After the overthrow of the Medici family, he became the ruler of Florence, setting up a democratic but severely puritanical government. He was opposed by the allies of the Medici and by Pope Alexander VI, who attempted to restrain Savonarola’s unusual interpretations of scripture and his claim of prophecy. He was tried, convicted of heresy, and hanged. His government was known for its “bonfire of the vanities,” which was what? Discuss

Artie Shaw (1910)

Considered one of swing’s two great clarinetists—along with his rival, Benny Goodman—Shaw was a virtuoso at his instrument. He began playing professionally as a teen before becoming leader of one of the most popular big bands of the swing era. In 1935, he performed with a string quartet that he later expanded into a more conventional dance band. He led a US Navy band during World War II and various ensembles later on, retiring in 1954. How many times was Shaw married? Discuss

The Vampire Fish of the Amazon

The candirú is a parasitic freshwater catfish typically found in the Amazon River. The translucent, eel-shaped “toothpick fish” is reputed to be the most feared fish in the river and earned this distinction because of its proclivity for attacking and entering the human body via any available orifice, especially the urethra. The creature has protruding spines which make it nearly impossible to remove from the body without surgical intervention. How does the fish locate its human host? Discuss

Pac-Man Arcade Game Released (1980)

First released in Japan in 1980, Pac-Man went on to become one of the most famous arcade games of all time. Developed by Namco video game designer Toru Iwatani, the game became an icon of 80s pop culture and is often credited with being a landmark in video game history. For the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man in 2010, Google turned its homepage logo into a fully playable version of the game. How much productivity did businesses reportedly lose from employees playing the game? Discuss

Richard Wagner (1813)

Wagner was a German composer whose astonishing works made him one of the most influential figures in the history of Western music. He revolutionized the 19th-century idea of opera, seeing it as a wholly new art form in which musical, poetic, and scenic elements should come together through such devices as the leitmotif—a recurring melodic phrase used to illustrate a character or idea. His operas include Tristan and Isolde, as well as his masterpiece, a four-opera cycle known as what? Discuss

Senescence

Biologically speaking, senescence is the process of deterioration that follows the development of an organism. In 1965, Leonard Hayflick discovered that normal diploid cells divide in cell culture about 50 times before entering a senescence phase during which they can replicate no more. Each cell division shortens the telomere of the cell’s DNA, thus ticking back an “inner clock” for each subsequent copy of the cell. How does this mechanism protect the body from disease? Discuss