Street art is any art developed in public spaces and includes traditional graffiti, stencil graffiti, sticker art, video projections, street installations, and posters. Though it usually refers to art of an illicit nature, the term is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art. Some street artists have even achieved mainstream recognition and commercial success. Who are some prominent street artists? Discuss
Month: February 2025
Harold Macmillan Delivers "Wind of Change" Speech (1960)
British statesman Harold Macmillan held several government posts during World War II, including minister resident in North Africa. After serving in several other positions, he became prime minister in 1957. Macmillan accelerated Britain’s decolonization, especially in Africa. In a memorable speech to the South African parliament in 1960, he said a “wind of change” was sweeping across Africa, which was experiencing a growth in national consciousness. What were the reactions to the speech? Discuss
Norman Rockwell (1894)
Rockwell was an American illustrator whose idealized scenes of family life in small-town America gained enormous popularity with the public. His illustrations appeared in major periodicals such as Collier’s and Life. From 1916 to 1963, he produced 317 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, and during WWII his patriotic posters were distributed by the government. What unusually serious subject did the sentimental illustrator cover for Look magazine later in his career? Discuss
Mourning Sickness
Disparaged by critics as the new opiate of the masses, “mourning sickness” is the relatively recent phenomenon of collective public grieving for murder victims and celebrities who have died. Princess Diana’s death in 1997 prompted one of the most widespread examples of this in the UK, where makeshift memorials quickly became gathering places for public displays of mourning. The advent of the Internet provided the public with a new forum in which to share their grief. Who was Anna Svidersky? Discuss
Sled Dogs Reach Nome, Alaska, with Diphtheria Serum (1925)
In 1925, a diphtheria outbreak threatened the city of Nome. The town’s supply of antitoxin had run out, and a mail shipment would have taken weeks to arrive. After learning of the crisis, 20 mushers and some 150 sled dogs, including the famous Balto, relayed fresh antitoxin 674 miles (1,085 km) in a record five and a half days, preventing an epidemic. Today, the heroic journey is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. How long did a reenactment of the serum run take in 1975? Discuss
George Halas, "Papa Bear" (1895)
Halas was a pioneering football player, coach, and owner of one of the 11 original teams in the American Professional Football Association (APFA), the Decatur Staleys. Founded in 1920, the APFA went on to become the National Football League (NFL) in 1922—the same year Halas moved his team to Chicago and renamed it the Bears. Under his leadership, the Chicago Bears won seven NFL championships. In addition to coaching, Halas also played what position during the 1920s? Discuss
Vote Pairing
Also called vote swapping, vote pairing is an election system that allows people to vote tactically. A person who engages in this sort of vote trading agrees to vote for a less-preferred candidate who has a greater chance of winning in his district, and in exchange, a voter from another district agrees to vote for the candidate the first voter prefers. Though the practice is fairly informal, it can sometimes be quite sophisticated and involve websites that pair up voters. Is the practice legal? Discuss
First Volume of Oxford English Dictionary Is Published (1884)
Though the first volume, A–Ant, was published in 1884, the first complete edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was not published until 1928. Planned as a 10-year project, the 44-year undertaking resulted in a comprehensive, historical dictionary of English—the longest in the world today. It required more than 800 volunteers to compile material, including one who, it was later learned, turned out to be working from an asylum for the criminally insane. Why was he there? Discuss
William Clark Gable (1901)
Despite having such large ears that some doubted he could become a romantic lead, Gable had a rugged masculinity and lighthearted charm that proved popular with audiences. The actor debuted on Broadway in 1928 and went to Hollywood in 1930. There he starred in Mutiny on the Bounty, Gone with the Wind, and It Happened One Night, for which he won an Academy Award. What tragedy prompted him to give up show business and become a bomber pilot during World War II? Discuss
Tessellations
Tessellations are patterns of carefully juxtaposed, non-overlapping shapes—like the multicolored tiles of a mosaic—that fill a given surface. They have been used throughout history, from ancient architecture to modern art, and are frequently found in the works of M.C. Escher. Regular tessellations, which are highly symmetrical and made up of congruent, regular polygons, can only be formed using equilateral triangles, squares, or hexagons. Where can tessellations be observed in the natural world? Discuss