Month: July 2024

Carl Jung (1875)

Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of analytical psychology. Early in his career, he worked with psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, who studied and named “schizophrenia.” Jung wrote a book on the illness, which led to a meeting with Sigmund Freud, and the two formed a close relationship for a number of years. However, Jung’s criticism of Freud’s emphasis on the sexual basis of neuroses ended their collaboration, and a formal break came when Jung published what revolutionary book? Discuss

Greek Fire

Produced using a secret formula that remains a mystery to this day, Greek fire was a burning-liquid weapon used by the Byzantine Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, and Mongols. Early on, it took the form of a burning cloth ball fired with a catapult. Later advances produced a flamethrower-like device that discharged a stream of burning fluid which, according to many historical accounts, water could not extinguish. What are some of the ingredients thought to have been used in the production of Greek fire? Discuss

Svetlana Savitskaya Becomes the First Woman to Perform a Spacewalk (1984)

Savitskaya is a former Soviet female aviator and cosmonaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space some 19 years after Valentina Tereshkova. She logged nearly 20 days in space during her career, including three and a half hours spent outside the Salyut 7 space station in 1984, when she became the first woman to perform a spacewalk. Before becoming a cosmonaut, she was a test and sport pilot and a parachutist. What world records did she set? Discuss

Louise Brown (1978)

Brown was the first baby to be conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure used to overcome infertility in which a woman’s eggs are removed, fertilized with sperm outside the body, and then inserted into the uterus. Now a commonplace procedure, IVF was developed in the 1970s by British medical researchers Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards and was subject to much criticism before Brown’s birth. Who was the first woman conceived through IVF to give birth naturally to a baby of her own? Discuss

The Philosopher's Stone

Long sought as the “holy grail” of Western alchemy, the philosopher’s stone is a legendary substance that is supposedly capable of turning inexpensive metals into gold and is believed by some to have the power to restore youth. At one time, alchemists believed a key ingredient of the stone was a mythical element called “carmot.” According to legend, to whom did 13th-century scientist Albertus Magnus give the philosopher’s stone after discovering it shortly before his death? Discuss

Hiram Bingham III Locates Machu Picchu (1911)

Bingham was an American archaeologist who explored the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, which he incorrectly identified as the “lost city” of Vilcabamba, bringing them to the attention of the outside world for the first time. Ironically, he was also the first modern explorer to reach Espiritu Pampa, found 60 mi (110 km) east of Machu Picchu, a site now widely recognized as the actual remains of Vilcabamba. A Yale University lecturer, Bingham may have been the inspiration for what fictional character? Discuss

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (1900)

Zelda Sayre was an aspiring writer when she married F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1920. A glamorous and witty couple, they lived an extravagant life in New York City that F. Scott unsuccessfully attempted to support with his writing. They eventually moved to Europe, where they became part of a celebrated circle of American expatriates known as the Lost Generation. After 1930, Zelda was intermittently confined to sanatoriums for schizophrenia but still managed to publish short stories and what novel? Discuss

Phrygia

In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west-central part of the Anatolia, the site of modern Turkey. The Phrygian people settled in the area around 1200 BCE and established a kingdom in the 8th century BCE before being conquered and becoming part of the Persian, Greek, and Roman empires. Phrygia developed an advanced Bronze Age culture and the earliest traditions of Greek music were derived from the area. Who was the mythic Phrygian king who was given the “golden touch”? Discuss