Category: This day in History

Guinness is a celebrated Irish dry stout that originated in the Dublin brewery of Arthur Guinness. When Guinness acquired his brewery, he famously signed a 9,000-year lease that fixed his annual rent at 45 pounds. From 1799, the brewery produced only its distinctive, dark, creamy Guinness stout, which became known as the national beer of Ireland. Although Guinness stout may appear to be black, it is officially a very dark shade of what? Discuss

In 1835, a minority faction of the Cherokee tribe signed the Treaty of New Echota, which bound the entire tribe to move beyond the Mississippi River within three years. Although the Cherokee overwhelmingly repudiated the document and the US Supreme Court upheld the nation’s autonomy, the state of Georgia forced their removal through military action. President Andrew Jackson refused to intervene, and thousands died on the march, known as the “Trail of Tears.” To where did they march? Discuss

In 1882, French inventor Louis Lumière developed a method of making photographic plates. By 1894, he and his brother August were producing 15 million plates a year. They worked on improving Edison’s kinetoscope, and, in 1895, patented their combination movie camera and projector, the Cinématographe. Their 46-second film La Sortie des ouvriers de l’usine Lumière is considered the first motion picture and was one of 10 included in their first public film screening. What is its subject? Discuss

Distinguished by its size and rising succession of domes, the Hagia Sophia is the supreme masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. First a church, later a mosque, and now a museum, it was designed under Justinian I by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus and completed in less than six years. Its combination of a longitudinal basilica with a main building was wholly original in the sixth century, as was its use of pendentives. The Hagia Sophia stands on the site of what earlier structure? Discuss

The Ku Klux Klan is the name of two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history. The first Klan was an organization that thrived in the South during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. The second was a nationwide organization that flourished after World War I. Subsequent groups calling themselves the Ku Klux Klan sprang up in much of the South after World War II and in response to civil-rights activity during the 1960s. How did the Ku Klux Klan gets its name? Discuss

Piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, who first conceived of the craft and sketched it on the back of a napkin in 1981, the Rutan Voyager was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It took off from Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and landed there nine days later. The aircraft more than doubled the previous record of un-refueled flight set by a US Air Force B-52 in 1962. How much does the Rutan Voyager weigh? Discuss

Snow White was the first full-length animated feature film in history. It was animated entirely by hand and took Walt Disney and his studio three years to complete. It was exponentially more expensive than the animated shorts the studio had produced until that time and met with considerable opposition. Disney eventually had to mortgage his house to help finance the project, which was derisively nicknamed “Disney’s Folly” by those in the film industry. How much did the film go on to earn? Discuss

In the 1830s, South Carolina residents, frustrated by agricultural tariffs, broached the possibility of secession. Tariff reform appeased them for some time, but following the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. The state’s governor immediately demanded all federal property within the state, including Fort Sumter. The firing on Sumter by Confederate batteries in 1861 precipitated the Civil War. When was the US flag raised over Fort Sumter again? Discuss

English novelist Charles Dickens wrote many books and stories about Christmas. His first, the beloved A Christmas Carol, was written in just weeks, reputedly to meet the expenses of his wife’s fifth pregnancy. An instant success, it has since been adapted countless times for theater and film. The last name of the story’s protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, has even entered the English lexicon as a word meaning a mean-spirited, miserly person. What allegedly inspired Dickens to write the story? Discuss

Epimetheus, a nonspherical body measuring about 89 mi (144 km) by 67 mi (108 km) by 61 mi (98 km), is one of Saturn’s 48 confirmed natural satellites. It was discovered in 1966 and photographed in 1980 by the Voyager 1 probe. Epimetheus and another moon, Janus, are co-orbital, meaning that they share nearly the same orbit. About every fourth year, the lower, faster satellite overtakes the other and is boosted into the higher orbit. After what mythological figure is Epimetheus named? Discuss