The Hard Hat Riot (1970)

Four days after four students were shot and killed while protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Ohio, several hundred anti-war protesters gathered near New York City Hall to hold a memorial for the shooting victims and protest the war. At around noon, 200 construction workers attacked the approximately 1,000 protesters—most of whom were high school and college students—resulting in dozens of injuries and six arrests. Who organized the construction workers in the counter-protest? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

White Lotus Day (Death of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky)

The anniversary of the death of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) is commemorated by members of the Theosophical Society, which was founded in New York in 1875 by Blavatsky and Henry Olcott. Olcott and Blavatsky moved to India in 1878, and the international headquarters for the Theosophical movement remains in Adyar (near Madras) today. She completed her most important work, The Secret Doctrine (1888), an overview of Theosophical teachings, along with numerous other books, before her death in 1891. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Miguel Hidalgo (1753)

A national hero in Mexico, where the state of Hidalgo bears his name, Miguel Hidalgo was a priest and revolutionary leader who is regarded as the founder of the Mexican War of Independence movement. Influenced by the French Revolution, he launched a revolt against Spain in the early 19th century. Hidalgo led the rebels to several early victories but was captured, defrocked, and executed by firing squad along with other revolutionary leaders in 1811. What was done with their remains? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg Castle is situated at the center of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. It was built in 1606 in the Dutch Renaissance style and went through several expansions to arrive at its present condition in 1624. It was used by Danish regents as a royal residence until around 1710 and was opened to the public in 1838. Today, it is popular with tourists who flock to the castle to view the Danish Crown Regalia. How many people visit the Rosenborg Castle Garden every year? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony Premieres in Vienna (1824)

The Symphony No. 9 in D Minor is the last complete symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. One of the best known works of the Western repertoire, it is considered one of Beethoven’s greatest masterpieces. Incorporating part of Johann Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” sung by soloists and a chorus, it is the first symphony in which a major composer utilizes human voices on the same level as instruments. How many standing ovations reportedly followed its premiere performance in 1824? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Festa di San Nicola

The Festa di San Nicola (Festival of St. Nicholas) is celebrated in Italy on the anniversary of the transfer of the saint’s relics by a group of 11th-century sailors from Bari. Thousands of pilgrims come to the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari, Puglia, to worship at the saint’s tomb and to ask for his help. There is a procession on this day in which a group of Barese sailors take the saint’s image down to the water, where it is placed on a flower-decked boat and taken out to sea. At night the statue is returned to its place of honor on the altar of San Nicola’s crypt. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Olympe de Gouges (1748)

Born Marie Gouze, de Gouges was a French author whose feminist writings during the French Revolution demanded the same rights for French women that French men were demanding. In 1791, alarmed that the new constitution did not address woman’s suffrage, she wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, challenging the practice of male authority and the notion of male-female inequality. Why was she executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is a green pigment that gives most plants their color and enables them to carry out photosynthesis, the process through which plants get energy from light. Chlorophyll absorbs light in the red and blue-violet portions of the visible spectrum; the green portion is not absorbed and, reflected, gives chlorophyll its characteristic green color. Only one animal has been found to use the chlorophyll it has eaten to perform photosynthesis for itself. What is it? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary