Month: November 2024

Cornerstone of Jefferson Memorial Is Laid (1939)

The construction of the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, was authorized by Congress in 1934. In 1939, US President Franklin Roosevelt presided over a ceremony during which the cornerstone of the monument was laid. Completed and dedicated in 1943, the white marble building, designed by John Russell Pope, is a circular structure with a domed ceiling, surrounded by 26 columns. Inside is a bronze statue of Jefferson. Why was a temporary plaster statue initially erected there? Discuss

Felix Frankfurter (1882)

Frankfurter was a US Supreme Court justice and presidential adviser. He served as secretary of war under President William H. Taft, advised President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt on many New Deal programs. In 1939, Roosevelt named him to the Supreme Court, where he served until 1962. In 1920, Frankfurter helped found the American Civil Liberties Union and argued in favor of what infamous pair of defendants? Discuss

Whistled Language

Whistled language is a form of communication that uses whistling to emulate speech, generally by imitating the intonation of a natural language. Though relatively rare, whistled language is found in cultures around the world and is especially common in parts of West Africa, where even French is whistled in some areas. Such languages enable communication over long ranges and are usually found in locations with rough terrain. What culture fines men whose whistle-speech skills are deemed subpar? Discuss

The Apalachin Meeting (1957)

The Apalachin Meeting was a summit of some 100 Mafiosi from the US, Canada, and Italy that was raided after their fancy cars and out-of-state license plates aroused the suspicions of law enforcement agents in Apalachin, New York. Fifty-eight Mafiosi, including bosses Carlo Gambino and Vito Genovese, were detained. Perhaps the most significant consequence of the raid was that it confirmed the American Mafia’s existence, a fact that had long been denied by what prominent law enforcement official? Discuss

Aaron Copland (1900)

Famously public-spirited and generous, Copland came to be unofficially regarded as the US’s national composer. Although his earliest works show European influences, the American character of the greater part of his compositions is evident in his use of jazz and American folk tunes. He is best known for his three ballets based on American folk material: Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. For what films did Copland compose music? Discuss

The Siege of Sidney Street

Having killed several London policemen during a botched robbery in 1910, the members of a politically motivated gang of burglars went into hiding. When their location was revealed to authorities, 200 men were sent to surround the building. This prompted a wild gunfight now known as the Siege of Sidney Street. Though outmanned, the gang members possessed superior weapons and were only overtaken when their building caught fire. Why was Winston Churchill criticized for his role in the siege? Discuss

Two Libyans Indicted for Pan Am 103 Attack (1991)

In 1991, after a three-year investigation, US and UK authorities announced indictments against two Libyan intelligence officials in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. During a trial held a decade later in the Netherlands, one of the defendants was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Whose presence on board the airplane has given rise to a number of conspiracy theories about the motivations behind the bombing? Discuss

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850)

Born in Scotland, Stevenson traveled frequently during his life, partly in search of better climates for his tuberculosis, which would eventually cause his death at age 44. In 1885, he published A Child’s Garden of Verses, one of the most influential children’s works of the 19th century. His immensely popular novels Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were written over the course of just a few years. What is considered his unfinished masterpiece? Discuss