Papyrus was an early form of paper made from the pith of the papyrus plant, a wetland sedge that once flourished in the Nile Delta. Though its earliest use has been traced to Ancient Egypt, it was also widely used throughout the Mediterranean region, inland parts of Europe, and southwest Asia. Making a sheet of papyrus involves a complex process of layering the inner piths of the stems, then hammering, drying, and polishing them. What unlikely article of clothing was made from papyrus? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston’s largest urban fire and remains one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history, causing $73.5 million in damages. Numerous factors contributed to the fire, not the least of which was the lax enforcement of Boston’s building regulations which, coupled with the practice of over-insuring buildings, left no real incentive to build fire-safe structures. How many years did it take to rebuild the burnt district? 
In the mid 19th century, at a time when most of the crofters, or tenants, of the Scottish Highlands were dependent on potatoes as a source of food, their potato crops were blighted with a terrible fungal disease that caused the crop to fail for the next ten years. The blight was similar to the contemporaneous Irish Potato Famine, but the latter was perhaps more severe and closer to a true famine. What was the landlords’ solution to the problem of starving crofters? 
The sea urchin, a spiny sea creature related to the starfish, is found in oceans all over the world. Its body wall is a firm, globose shell, made of fused skeletal plates. Five rows of the skeletal plates are pierced by pores for its tube feet, which it uses, along with its spines, for locomotion. Sea urchin “roe,” which is actually made from the organs that produce the roe, is considered a delicacy in Mediterranean regions and Japan, where it has been sold for what price? 
The ukulele is a Hawaiian musical instrument developed from the Portuguese guitar. It has a fretted fingerboard and four strings that are plucked or strummed. A similar instrument is the banjolele, which has a banjo body. The ukulele became popular in the US through a 1915 exposition held in San Francisco, at which the Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble. Vaudeville performers took it up, and its popularity spread. “Ukulele” is Hawaiian for what? 
Salmonella is a certain type of bacteria, several species of which are responsible for typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, and food poisoning in humans. It is usually contracted from poultry, meat, or raw eggs and from food that has been cooked or frozen and not eaten right away. Salmonella poisoning could also result from handling reptiles, such as iguanas or terrapins, which commonly host the bacteria. According to the US government, what percentage of chickens is contaminated with salmonella? 
The poppy family is composed chiefly of herbs from the Northern Hemisphere that have characteristic milky or colored sap. Most species are native to the Old World, and many are cultivated in gardens for their brilliantly colored, if short-lived, blossoms. The opium poppy is grown for its opium as well as for its seeds for cooking and baking. The poppy has been the symbol of the dead and of sleep since antiquity. In many countries, the poppy is worn to commemorate what holiday? 
The modern Highland Games began in the 1780s as an organized effort to revive Scottish Highland traditions. These celebrations of Scottish and Celtic heritage center around competitions in piping, drumming, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics. The caber toss, in which a competitor balances a long, heavy wooden pole vertically and then tosses it, has become a recognized symbol of the Highland Games. What other feats of strength are often included in the Games’ athletic competitions? 
Pointillism, a Post-Impressionist school of painting exemplified by Georges Seurat and his followers in late 19th-century France, is characterized by the application of paint in small dots and brush strokes. These distinct points of primary colors create the visual effect of a wide selection of secondary colors, relying heavily on the viewer’s perceptive ability to mix the color spots into a full range of tones. The technique is analogous to the color production of what modern devices? 
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced in South Africa for almost 50 years that was legally abolished in the early 1990s. Apartheid served not only to separate whites from non-whites, but also non-white groups from one another. The 1959 Sharpeville Massacre, in which police officers opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing 69 and injuring 186, was a major turning point in public opinion of South African apartheid. What does the word apartheid mean in Afrikaans?