Month: July 2024

Rani Lakshmi Bai

In 1857, Indian troops in the service of the English East India Company ignited a massive rebellion. They refused to use rifle cartridges thought to be lubricated with grease containing a mixture of pigs’ and cows’ lard, considered religiously impure. Lakshmi Bai—queen of the Indian state of Jhansi—became an unlikely hero in the rebellion. When a British commander vowed to destroy Jhansi unless its people surrendered, Lakshmi Bai asserted that they would fight to the death. What happened to her? Discuss

abaxial

Definition: (adjective) Located away from or on the opposite side of the axis, as of an organ or organism

Synonyms: dorsal.

Usage: The abaxial surface of the leaf was covered in stomata, tiny pores that allow the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen between the internal tissues of the plant and the outside atmosphere.

Discuss

US President Lyndon B. Johnson Signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (1964)

Proposed by President John F. Kennedy and strengthened and passed under President Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is widely considered the most important US law on civil rights since Reconstruction. A comprehensive law intended to end discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin, it guarantees equal voting rights and prohibits segregation or discrimination in public places, among other provisions. How long did some senators filibuster to delay the bill’s passage? Discuss

Thomas Cranmer (1489)

Cranmer became the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury after he helped Henry VIII in his negotiations with the pope over divorcing Catherine of Aragon. He annulled Henry’s marriage to Catherine, supported his marriage to Anne Boleyn, and later helped him divorce her. After Henry’s death in 1547, Cranmer became adviser to Edward VI. When the anti-Protestant Mary I became queen, Cranmer was tried, convicted of heresy, and burned at the stake. Why did he place his hand into the fire first? Discuss

The Story of Wenamun

Known only from one incomplete copy discovered in 1890, the Story of Wenamun tells the tale of an Egyptian priest and his journey to Byblos in Phoenicia. Once widely believed to be an actual historical account, the story is now generally accepted by Egyptologists as a work of historical fiction. Still, the vivid narrative, written in the ancient Egyptian writing system of hieratic, is often treated by historians as a primary source on the late 20th Dynasty. In what year is the story set? Discuss

Russian State Library Founded (1862)

The Russian State Library in Moscow is the largest library in Europe and the second largest in the world, behind the Library of Congress. Its collection of more than 43 million items in 248 languages includes more than 17 million books, brochures, and serials; 13 million journals; and 650,000 newspapers. Its specialized collections feature maps, art publications, printed music, and manuscripts. The library was named after what Russian revolutionary before being given its current name in 1992? Discuss

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

Formerly an occupied territory of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on July 1, 1997. The day is reserved for official celebrations of Hong Kong and its unique “one country, two systems” arrangement with its mainland ally. Large crowds observe the anniversary by turning out for an official flag-raising ceremony displaying the emblems of Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China. There is also a parade featuring traditional drumming performances and dragon dance troupes. Discuss

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweiss (1818)

Semmelweiss was a Hungarian physician who pioneered the use of antiseptics in obstetrical clinics. While working at a Vienna hospital, he became convinced that physicians were transmitting puerperal fever, also called childbed fever, to patients and began insisting that doctors thoroughly cleanse their hands. Though this greatly reduced the mortality rate from infection in childbirth, he was widely ridiculed by his colleagues and left Vienna. When was the value of his work finally recognized? Discuss

Solomonic Columns

Characterized by their corkscrew-like shaft, Solomonic columns draw their name from the Biblical description of the two columns that famously flanked the entrance to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, built in the 10th c BCE. According to tradition, that temple was the source of a set of columns brought to Rome by Constantine the Great in the 4th c CE for the original St. Peter’s Basilica, where several of the pillars still remain. These columns are now believed to have originally stood where? Discuss