The Hound of the Baskersvilles

Eight years after he killed off Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle brought the character back in The Hound of the Baskervilles. The novel is possibly the most popular of all of the Holmes stories and has been filmed at least 24 times since 1914. It was inspired by the regional mythology of the British Isles concerning hell-hounds and set largely on an area of moorland close to where Doyle worked as a general practitioner while writing the novel. Who helped Doyle craft its plot? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Mumtaz Mahal Dies in Childbirth (1631)

Mumtaz was one of the three wives of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, his constant companion and trusted confidant—and his favorite. She died during the birth of their fourteenth child, while accompanying him on a military campaign. According to legend, her dying wish was for there to be built a monument to their love. The bereaved emperor soon began to plan a magnificent mausoleum for his late wife, a structure that would take more than 20 years to complete and become what world-famous building? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Iceland Independence Day

Iceland was proclaimed an independent republic on June 17, 1944. Sometimes referred to as National Day, the anniversary of this event is also the birthday of Jón Sigurdsson, the nation’s 19th-century leader. A varied program of parades, speeches, sporting competitions, amusements, and outdoor concerts and shows culminates in the evening with dancing in the streets of Reykjavik and other towns. Another National Day was December 1, the anniversary of the 1918 treaty recognizing Iceland as an independent state under the Danish crown. This is now largely a student celebration. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

M. C. Escher (1898)

Escher was a Dutch graphic artist now famed for prints in which he combined realistic detail with impossible perspectives to achieve bizarre optical illusions, such as staircases that appear to lead both up and down from the same level. He created visual riddles, playing with the pictorially logical and the visually impossible. Though his works have a strong mathematical component, they appeal to mathematicians, scientists, and the public alike. What creature is featured in his final print? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Second Triumvirate

The Second Triumvirate is the historical name given to the ancient Roman alliance of Octavian, Marc Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, established in 43 BCE. Unlike the First Triumvirate, it was an official, if extraconstitutional, organization that was legally established and given enormous power by the senate. After Lepidus was deposed and Antony defeated, Octavian became the first emperor of Rome in 27 BCE. Octavian is better known by what name? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Victoria Hall Disaster (1883)

At the end of a children’s variety show in Sunderland, England, organizers announced that certain ticket holders would receive a prize upon exit. Many of the estimated 1,100 children in attendance excitedly rushed toward the staircase, creating a bottleneck at the narrow exit. Those in the front were trapped and crushed, and 183 children between the ages of 3 and 14 died of asphyxiation before adults could disperse the crowd. The inquiry that followed is said to have led to what invention? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

South Africa Youth Day

Throughout the history of South Africa, black citizens have suffered from segregation and oppression by white leaders. On June 16, 1976, more than 20,000 students from Soweto began a protest march. Police were called to the scene, and violent riots broke out. Approximately 700 people, many of them youths, were killed. June 16 has been set aside as Youth Day across the Republic of South Africa, to commemorate the day the protests began and to honor the youth who lost their lives during the riots. Ceremonies, parades, and historic exhibitions are part of the celebrations across South Africa. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Geronimo (1829)

When US authorities abolished the Chiricahua Reservation in 1876 and removed the Apaches to an arid region of New Mexico, Geronimo led a group of followers to Mexico. He was soon captured and returned to the new reservation, but escaped again with a group in 1881 and began leading them on raids. The cycle repeated again and again, until late in 1886, when Geronimo and the remainder of his forces surrendered for good. How is it that he ended up riding in Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural procession? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary