USS Constitution Defeats HMS Guerrière (1812)

The USS Constitution, better known as “Old Ironsides,” is perhaps the most famous vessel in the history of the US Navy. One of the first frigates built for the Navy, the Constitution saw action in several wars and defeated the British frigate HMS Guerrière during the War of 1812. Later condemned as unseaworthy, the ship was saved from dismantling by public sentiment aroused by Oliver Wendell Holmes’ poem “Old Ironsides.” How did the wooden ship get its nickname? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Jeshn

Jeshn is a celebration of Afghanistan’s independence from British control that has been observed throughout the country but with special ceremonies in Kabul. The Treaty of Rawalpindi, signed on August 8, 1919, gave Afghanistan the right to conduct its own foreign affairs. It was the formal conclusion of the Third Anglo-Afghan War, which actually ended in May 1919, but August is a slack agricultural period and therefore a time when more people can celebrate a holiday. The holiday has been observed with parades, dancing, games, music, and speeches by government figures. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel (1883)

Arguably the most important figure in 20th-century fashion, Chanel founded her first house of couture in 1913. Within five years, her innovative use of jersey fabric and accessories was attracting wealthy patrons. Her nonconformist designs stressed simplicity and comfort and revolutionized the fashion industry. The financial basis of her empire was her Chanel No. 5 perfume, introduced in 1922 and still popular today. What essential women’s fashion staple was first popularized by Chanel? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Highland Potato Famine (1846-1857)

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? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

pyrite

Definition: (noun) A brass-colored mineral, FeS2, occurring widely and used as an iron ore and in producing sulfur dioxide for sulfuric acid.
Synonyms: fool's gold.
Usage: The children thought the gleaming bits of metal they had found were gold, and their nurse refrained from telling them they were simply flecks of pyrite.
Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

King Henry IV of France Marries Marguerite de Valois (1572)

The marriage of Henry of Navarre—later King Henry IV of France—to Marguerite de Valois—daughter of Henry II and Catherine de’ Medici—was intended to forge peace between Roman Catholics and Protestants. However, the occasion was instead used as a plot to massacre the Protestant Huguenots gathered for the wedding. The massacre spread from Paris throughout France, and an estimated 70,000 were killed, resulting in the resumption of civil war. How did Henry narrowly escape death amid the killings? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Virginia Dare (1587)

The first English child born in the Americas, Dare began her life in the colony of Roanoke in what is now the state of North Carolina. Strangely, the colony soon disappeared, and what became of Dare and the other colonists remains a mystery. In the 400 years since, Dare has become a prominent figure in American mythology and folklore. To many, she represents concepts like innocence and hope. Others use her name as a rallying cry for bigotry and sexism. How do historians know about her birth? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Sea Urchins

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? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary