Foundation Stone Laid for Cologne Cathedral in Germany (1248)

The Cologne Cathedral is the largest in northern Europe. It contains the paintings of Stephen Lochner and is believed to hold the relics of the Wise Men of the East. Built in the Gothic style, it was begun in 1248 on the site of an older church. The nave and two spires—each of which is 515 ft (157 m) high—were included in the original plans but built later, between 1842 and 1880. For the next four years, it was the tallest structure in the world. What destroyed the original church in 1248? Discuss

Energy Vampires

In New Age terminology, an energy vampire is a being said to have the ability to feed off the “life force” of other creatures. Such entities include the tiger-women of Asia and the incubi and succubi of Judeo-Christian mythology. Though not as popular as their blood-sucking counterparts, energy vampires have nonetheless made appearances in a number of works of popular fiction. Who popularized the term “psychic vampire” in the 1960s? Discuss

Julia Child (1912)

Child was an American chef, author, and TV personality who introduced French cooking to the American public. She began studying French cuisine while her husband was stationed in France on a diplomatic assignment and attended Paris’s famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. In 1961, she cowrote the bestseller Mastering the Art of French Cooking and soon began hosting a series of educational TV programs, including what show that transformed her into an Emmy-winning public-broadcasting star? Discuss

The Fusor: DIY Nuclear Fusion

Originally designed by TV developer Philo T. Farnsworth as a device to create nuclear fusion, the fusor is unique in its simplicity. Instead of slowly heating plasma, the fusor simply injects “high temperature” ions directly into a reaction chamber. Still, engineers have been unable to develop a practical power source using the technology. Hobbyists and even high school students have built small fusors over the years. The youngest person ever to build a working fusor was how old? Discuss

John Henry "Doc" Holliday (1851)

Holliday was an American dentist, gambler, and gunfighter. After graduating from dental school in 1872, he moved to the drier climate of the West to help treat his tuberculosis. He briefly practiced dentistry in Texas, then took up gambling and began drifting. Settling in Tombstone, Arizona, he joined Wyatt Earp and his brothers in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Having earned a reputation as a gunman, he resumed drifting and died of tuberculosis at the age of 36. What were his last words? Discuss

Alfred Hitchcock (1899)

Hitchcock was a six-time Academy Award-nominated English-American filmmaker who directed more than 50 feature films in a career spanning six decades. A master of the suspense thriller, he developed a style that is so distinctive that any filmmaker working in the suspense genre invariably risks comparison to him. He was one of the best known directors of his time, often making humorous cameo appearances in his own films. Hitchcock was also known for his use of MacGuffins, which are what? Discuss

Opha Mae Johnson Becomes First Woman to Enlist in the US Marine Corps (1918)

During World War I, the US Secretary of the Navy decided to allow women to join the Marine Corps Reserve so that they could take over clerical duties being performed at the time by battle-ready Marines who were needed overseas. Johnson, who was 18 at the time, was the first woman to enlist. It would be another 25 years before the Marines began letting women fill non-clerical positions like parachute rigger, mechanic, and cryptographer. What was Johnson’s rank? Discuss