Mt. Osore, located on the Shimokita Peninsula in the north of Honshu, Japan, is a spiritual center for many Japanese. It is known as a place where departed souls congregate. During the Osorezan Taisai Festival, or Osorezanrei Grand Festival, people flock to the mountain at Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture, where psychics endeavor to summon the spirits of the dead by chanting. The priests who cross the weathered slopes of the mountain in procession add to the festival’s grim and ghostly atmosphere. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Mendel was an Austrian monk who laid the mathematical foundation for the science of genetics. While working in his monastery’s garden in 1854, he began planning the experiments that led him to identify the basic principles of heredity. By crossing different varieties of pea plants, he determined that each parent plant contributes a “factor”—now known as a gene—to its offspring for a particular trait. His findings went unrecognized until the 20th century, when they were rediscovered by whom? 
The Young Men’s Christian Organization (YMCA) was founded in London in 1844 and has as its objective the development of values and behaviors that are consistent with Christian principles; membership is not limited to Christians, however, and women and girls have been accepted as members since World War II. In North America, the YMCA is usually perceived to be primarily a community sports facility, but in practice it utilizes a broad range of other programs, such as what? 
After King Henry VIII divorced her mother, Catherine of Aragon, and married Anne Boleyn, Mary was declared illegitimate and lost her place in the line of succession. In 1553, her granddaughter, Lady Jane Grey, was deposed following a nine-day reign, and Mary—restored to the line of succession in 1544—became queen. She restored Roman Catholicism to England, but the resulting persecution of Protestants and the execution of some 300 heretics earned her the hatred of her subjects and what nickname? 
Kinderzeche is a festival in 
Colt patented his revolving-breech pistol in 1836, but the six-shooter was slow to gain acceptance, and his company failed in 1842. However, a US government order for 1,000 pistols during the Mexican War allowed Colt to resume its manufacture in 1847. Colt advanced the development of interchangeable parts and the assembly line, and his revolvers, including the famous Colt .45, became so popular that the word “Colt” was sometimes used as a generic term for any revolver. What else did Colt invent? 
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising 8 private institutions of higher education located in the Northeastern US. The term became ubiquitous with the formation of the NCAA Division I athletic conference in 1954, and it is now also commonly used to refer to those schools considered as a group. The Ivy League universities are also referred to as the Ancient Eight, and all but one of them are older than the American Revolution; which one was founded after the Civil War? 
The deadliest shooting spree in US history at the time, the San Ysidro McDonald’s Massacre took place at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Diego, California, and resulted in 21 deaths and 19 injuries. It was carried out by James Oliver Huberty, who had moved to the area just six months earlier and recently lost his job. The 77-minute massacre ended when Huberty was fatally shot by a sniper. Later that year, McDonald’s razed the building where the killings had occurred. What was built in its place?