Emilio Aguinaldo (1869-1964) declared the Philippines independent on June 12, 1898. But the U.S. acquired the islands in 1899, and it wasn’t until July 4, 1946, that they were granted full independence. For many years, Filipinos set aside July 4 to celebrate their independence. In 1962, the date was changed to June 12. Independence Day ceremonies in Manila include a military parade and the pealing of church bells. After the ceremonies are over, Filipinos devote the remainder of the day to recreation. There are games and athletic competitions, fireworks displays, and Independence Day balls. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Roebling was a German-American civil engineer and pioneer in suspension bridge design. After demonstrating the practicability of steel cable and establishing a plant for manufacturing it, he built the Allegheny Suspension Bridge, the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, and a number of other spans. His most ambitious project was the Brooklyn Bridge, but it also led to his death. Early in the construction process, he suffered a foot injury, developed tetanus, and died. Who took over in his place? 
Thermopylae is a narrow coastal passage between Locris and Thessaly in Greece that has been the site of several battles. There in 480 BCE, Leonidas with his Spartans and their allies lost a heroic battle to the Persians under Xerxes. At the pass in 279 BCE, the Greeks held back the Gauls under Brennus, who ultimately broke through, and, in 191 BCE, Antiochus III of Syria was defeated there by the Romans. What does “Thermopylae” mean in Greek? 
In the early 1960s, the policies of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, a member of the Catholic minority, generated claims of religious bias against the vast Buddhist majority. In 1963, Duc, a Buddhist monk, protested by dousing himself with gasoline and burning himself to death at a Saigon intersection. Photos of his self-immolation quickly spread around the world, and the event is widely seen as the turning point that led to a regime change. Which of Duc’s organs has been preserved? 
Before England adopted the 
One of the greatest 19th-century British landscape painters, Constable is known primarily for his renditions of the area surrounding his home, which has come to be known as “Constable country.” Constable’s free use of broken color and his direct observations of nature were extraordinary in his day. He received only modest recognition at home, being tardily admitted to the Royal Academy in 1829, but was more readily accepted in France. What French school of landscape painting did he influence? 
Robben Island is a mile-wide island off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. Stone-age people lived there thousands of years ago when sea levels were lower and the area was easily accessible. Starting in the late 17th century, the island was used to isolate lepers and, later, political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, who was held there from 1964 to 1982. In the 1600s, a ship laden with millions of dollars worth of gold sank off the island’s coast. Why has no one recovered the treasure? 
Mount Tarawera, a 3,646-ft (1,111-m) high volcanic peak on New Zealand’s North Island, consists of several lava domes that were split apart by an explosive eruption in 1886, which destroyed surrounding villages and killed more than 100 people. It also destroyed the nearby Pink and White Terraces, considered by some to have been the eighth wonder of the natural world. What ghostly apparition witnessed by a boatful of tourists, including a clergyman, is said to have been a portent of the eruption?