Category: This day in History

EADS is one of the world’s largest aerospace companies. It was formed in 2000 from the merger of Aerospatiale Matra of France, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany, and Construcciones Aeronáuticas S.A. of Spain. Responsible for the final assembly of Airbus aircraft, it is one of the top makers of commercial and military aircraft. It is also one of the major arms manufacturers in Europe, and its divisions also produce communications systems, space rockets, and satellites. Where is it based? Discuss

One of the most influential artists of the late 20th century, Warhol began painting in the late 1950s and received sudden notoriety in 1962, when he exhibited 32 silkscreened paintings of Campbell’s soup cans in a California art gallery. The blatantly mundane content of the exhibition ran contrary to the abstract expressionist aesthetic of the time and generated much controversy, establishing Warhol as the leading exponent of the pop art movement. How did the soup cans differ from one another? Discuss

In 1497, da Gama began his epochal voyage to India, becoming the first European to journey there directly by sea. With four vessels, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope, passed the easternmost point reached by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, continued up the coast of Africa to Malindi, and sailed across the Indian Ocean to Calicut. His voyage opened up a way for Europe to reach the Indies and marked the beginning of the Portuguese Empire. For what brutal methods was da Gama known during his travels? Discuss

When Surratt was hanged for conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, she became the first woman executed by the US federal government. Today, her execution is generally considered to have been a gross miscarriage of justice. During her trial, prosecutors failed to establish that she knew of John Wilkes Booth’s unsuccessful plot to abduct Lincoln, and it is now widely believed that she was not a party to the assassination plans either. What happened to her son, who also stood accused? Discuss

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

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

Often considered the most influential volume of poetry in American literature, Whitman’s Leaves of Grass was unconventional in both content and technique and initially scandalized the public with its frank celebration of sexuality. The first edition contained 12 poems, including “Song of Myself,” in which the author proclaims himself the symbolic representative of common people, but Whitman revised and expanded subsequent editions. How many poems are found in his “deathbed edition”? Discuss

Frenchman Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City as a trading post at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers. From this and subsequent settlements Catholic missionaries, explorers, and fur traders pushed across N America. Begun with just 32 colonists, the city is now home to about 500,000. Most residents are of French descent, despite the fact that the area was ceded to the British in 1763. By what name was Quebec originally known? Discuss

Proposed by President John F. Kennedy and strengthened and passed under President Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is widely considered the most important US law on civil rights since Reconstruction. A comprehensive law intended to end discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin, it guarantees equal voting rights and prohibits segregation or discrimination in public places, among other provisions. How long did some senators filibuster to delay the bill’s passage? Discuss

The Russian State Library in Moscow is the largest library in Europe and the second largest in the world, behind the Library of Congress. Its collection of more than 43 million items in 248 languages includes more than 17 million books, brochures, and serials; 13 million journals; and 650,000 newspapers. Its specialized collections feature maps, art publications, printed music, and manuscripts. The library was named after what Russian revolutionary before being given its current name in 1992? Discuss