Author: Ian

Shell Shock

During World War I, shell shock was considered a psychiatric illness resulting from injury to the nerves during combat. The condition is now known as combat stress reaction, a military term used to categorize a range of behaviors resulting from the stresses of battle. Symptoms include fatigue, slowed reaction time, indecision, disconnection from one’s surroundings, and the inability to prioritize. Why did some argue during the Vietnam War that distressed soldiers should be sent back to combat? Discuss

Annette Kellerman (1887)

Kellerman was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville and film star, and writer. Her 1907 performance of “water ballet” is often credited with popularizing the sport of synchronized swimming. Kellerman was also known for advocating the right of women to wear one-piece bathing suits and was once famously arrested for indecency for doing so herself. In 1908, a Harvard University professor named her the “Perfect Woman” because of the similarity of her physical attributes to what figure? Discuss

The Wild Man of the Woods

The woodwose, or hairy wild man of the woods, was the Sasquatch figure of medieval Europe. Seen as a link between civilized humans and dangerous, elf-like woodland spirits, the woodwose is depicted in a wide range of images, including carvings in the Canterbury Cathedral and 16th-century European coats of arms. References to the creature are found in stories by J.R.R. Tolkien. What happened to France’s King Charles VI and five of his courtiers when they dressed as woodwoses for a masquerade? Discuss

Explosion and Fire Destroy Piper Alpha Drilling Platform (1988)

Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum that sank into the sea after a series of explosions and a massive fire, killing 167 men. Only 59 of the workers survived. The initial blast is believed to have resulted from the activation of a pump that was missing a safety valve. A poorly planned evacuation process exacerbated the disaster. Why did nearby platforms continue to pump gas and oil to Piper Alpha after it was engulfed in flames? Discuss

Dolly, the First Cloned Sheep, Is Born (1996)

Perhaps the most famous sheep in history, Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell through the somatic cell nuclear transfer technique, in which the nucleus of an egg cell is replaced by the nucleus of a cell from the organism to be cloned. In successful cases, the egg cell develops into a healthy fetus, but the success rate of cloning has been low. Of 277 eggs, only 29 created viable embryos, and Dolly was the only one to survive to adulthood. How did she get her name? Discuss

Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (1911)

Pompidou was premier of France from 1962 to 1968 and president from 1969 to 1974. As Charles de Gaulle’s chief aide from 1958 to 1959, he helped draft the constitution of the Fifth Republic. He secretly negotiated a cease-fire in the Algerian War in 1961 and was appointed premier the following year. In 1968, he skillfully negotiated an end to the French student-worker strikes. Elected president in 1969, he continued de Gaulle’s policies. What job did Pompidou hold before he entered politics? Discuss

The Great Train Robbery

Five days after one of the biggest heists in British history, an anonymous tip led police to a farm where they found the robbers’ fingerprints, including some on a Monopoly game that had apparently been played after the robbery—with real money. Thirteen of the criminals involved in the 1963 event now known as “the Great Train Robbery” were eventually caught, but the bulk of the stolen £2.6 million—the equivalent of US $80 million today—was never recovered. How did the robbers stop the train? Discuss