Joseph Paxton (1803)

Paxton was an English architect noted for his use of glass and iron in a manner that anticipated modern methods. He began his career as a landscape gardener and built two innovative greenhouses for the duke of Devonshire. These “glass houses” later served as a model for the Crystal Palace, made of iron and glass, which Paxton designed and built for the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was knighted for the success of his design. One of Paxton’s greenhouses was designed solely to house what plant? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Peter O’Toole (1932)

O’Toole, a classical stage actor, debuted in London in 1956 and has since played a variety of Shakespearean roles. Tall and handsome, he catapulted to stardom in 1962 with his portrayal of British Army officer T. E. Lawrence in the desert epic Lawrence of Arabia. He went on to win praise for performances in films ranging from historical drama to high comedy and, though he never won, has been nominated for an Academy Award eight times. Despite this record, he received what award in 2003? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Francis Scott Key (1779)

After the burning of Washington, DC, by the British in the War of 1812, Key, an American lawyer, was sent to secure the release of a friend from a British ship in Chesapeake Bay. That night, while temporarily detained on a British vessel, Key witnessed the British shelling of Fort McHenry. When he saw the American flag still flying the next morning, he was inspired to write “Defense of Fort M’Henry,” a poem that was adopted as the US national anthem in 1931. To what melody was the poem set? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Primo Levi (1919)

Two years after earning a degree in chemistry, Levi, an Italian Jew, was captured by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. He later recounted the atrocities he witnessed in autobiographical novels including If This Is a Man, which has been described as one of the most important works of the 20th century. His best known work, The Periodic Table, is a collection of 21 meditations, each named for a chemical element. What entertainer has Levi’s concentration camp number tattooed on his arm? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Fatima Jinnah (1893)

Commonly known in Pakistan as Khatoon-e-Pakistan and Madar-e-Millat—Urdu for “Lady of Pakistan” and “Mother of the Nation,” respectively—Jinnah was the sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and an active figure in the movement for independence from the British Raj. She remained politically active after her brother’s death and even ran for president in 1965, though she lost by a narrow margin. What was Jinnah’s occupation before she became involved in politics? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Benito Mussolini (1883)

An ardent socialist in his youth, Mussolini turned nationalist after serving with the Italian army in WWI. He formed a fascist political group in 1919 and was soon appointed prime minister, becoming the youngest in Italian history. Supported by Adolf Hitler, Mussolini declared war on the Allies in 1940. As German defenses in Italy collapsed, Mussolini tried to escape to Austria but was captured and executed by Italian partisans. During his rule, he was known as Il Duce, which means what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929)

Onassis was the wife of US President John F. Kennedy and served as First Lady during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Her graciousness, elegance, and beauty endeared her to the American public, and her broad culture and ease in speaking Spanish and French impressed foreign leaders. Five years after her first husband’s murder, she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Upon his death in 1975, she returned to New York and became successful in what occupation? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Charlotte Corday (1768)

Although of aristocratic background, Corday sympathized with the moderate Girondists during the French Revolution. Horrified at the excesses of the Reign of Terror, she gained an audience with one of its leaders, Jean-Paul Marat, by promising to betray the Girondists and stabbed him through the heart while he was in his bath. Arrested on the spot, she was convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal and guillotined four days later. Why was Marat in the bath at the time of their meeting? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

George Bernard Shaw (1856)

Shaw was an Irish playwright and critic who revolutionized the Victorian stage, authoring more than 60 plays, including Man and Superman and Pygmalion, his comedic masterpiece. Nearly all of his works mix a vein of comedy with stern social commentary—on subjects including education, marriage, religion, government, and class privilege. Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 and is the only person to have received both it and what other award? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Gavrilo Princip (1894)

A member of the secret Serbian nationalist society known as the Black Hand, Princip sought to unite southern Slavic peoples and destroy Austro-Hungarian rule in the Balkans. When Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife made an official visit to Sarajevo in 1914, Princip—who was just a high school student at the time—assassinated them, setting off a chain of events that led to World War I. Princip was sentenced to 20 years in prison, where he died in 1918. What killed him? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary