Month: June 2024

The Tennis Court Oath (1789)

In the first days of the French Revolution, the deputies of the Third Estate were locked out of their usual meeting hall at Versailles. Believing that their newly formed National Assembly was to be disbanded, they met at a nearby tennis court and took an oath not separate until a constitution was established for France. The oath was an assertion that power came from the people not the monarch, and their solidarity forced King Louis XVI to concede. Who was the only deputy not to sign the oath? Discuss

Lillian Hellman (1905)

After working as a book reviewer, press agent, and play reader, Hellman began writing plays in the 1930s. Her first major success, The Children’s Hour, concerned two schoolteachers falsely accused of lesbianism. She examined family infighting in her hit The Little Foxes and political injustice in Watch on the Rhine. All were made into successful films. Hellman was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. What happened when she refused to testify? Discuss

The Hydraulophone

A hydraulophone is a musical instrument played via direct physical contact with a hydraulic fluid, typically water. The sound is generated from the vibration of the instrument’s liquid and changes based on the position of the fingers in relation to the finger holes. The invention of such devices led to the creation of a physics-based classification system for instruments that takes into account the state of matter that initially produces their sound. What are the five categories of this system? Discuss

The First Father's Day (1910)

Father’s Day is a day set apart in many countries for honoring fathers. In the US, UK, and Canada, it is observed on the third Sunday in June. The idea for a father’s day originated when Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, heard a sermon on Mother’s Day in 1909 and was inspired to create a date to honor fathers like her own, a Civil War veteran. Through her efforts, the first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane in 1910. When was the holiday made official in the US? Discuss

Blaise Pascal (1623)

Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. A child prodigy, he earned the envy of René Descartes with an essay he wrote on conic sections when he was still a teen. Credited with founding the modern theory of probability and advancing differential calculus, he also made important contributions to physics, notably in the study of atmospheric pressure. Why did he later abandon his scientific work to focus on theology and philosophy? Discuss

Earthquake Prediction

Strange animal behavior, changes in electromagnetic fields and the hydrogen content of soil, and the appearance of unusual clouds have all been cited as phenomena potentially related to impending earthquakes, yet earthquake prediction remains a controversial field. Skeptics maintain that there is little evidence linking observable factors with subsequent earthquake activity. What are the arguments against alerting people in advance if there is a chance of an earthquake? Discuss

Li Yuan Becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang (618 CE)

Emperor Gaozu was the founder of the greatest of China’s imperial dynasties, the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE), which ruled over what was then the world’s largest empire and initiated a golden age for art, science, and Buddhism. Before becoming emperor, Li Yuan, as he was then known, was governor of a province under the Sui Dynasty. When the Sui emperor, Yangdi, was assassinated in 618, Li Yuan reunited the empire and took power. Why did he later abdicate the throne in favor of his son, Li Shimin? Discuss