November 18, 2007
Historians consider the Papal bull
Unam sanctam—which proclaimed that there is no salvation outside of the Church—to be one of the most extreme statements of Papal spiritual supremacy ever made. It arose from the Pope's feud with Philip the Fair of France, in which each attempted to prevent the other from receiving money from taxes, and it highlights the conflict between temporal and spiritual authority in the Middle Ages. How did Philip respond to the bull?
November 15, 2007
On Nov. 15, 1889, Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca deposed the emperor Dom Pedro II, declared Brazil a republic, and reorganized the country's government. The republicans named Fonseca president, but his government was divided by the animosity between Fonseca and his vice president, Floriano Peixoto, and public opinion of the president soon soured. Instability and violence characterized the decade that followed. What export crop led to significant developments in Brazil's economy during this period?
November 14, 2007
Herman Melville, inspired by his whaling experiences on the South Seas, penned
Moby Dick, the now famed tale of a deranged whaling captain's obsessive voyage to find and destroy the great white whale to whom he lost his leg. The novel is at once an exciting sea story, a sociological critique of American prejudices, a repository of information about whaling, and a philosophical inquiry into the nature of good and evil. What may have inspired Melville to name his whale Moby-Dick?
November 13, 2007
After the DeFeo family was discovered murdered in their beds, Ronald DeFeo Junior, the family's only surviving member, was placed under police protection. Investigators initially believed a mob hit man had committed the crime, but DeFeo soon confessed and was convicted of murdering his parents and four siblings. A number of controversies surround the case, especially regarding the possible involvement of DeFeo's sister Dawn. What best-selling novel and series of films did these events inspire?
November 12, 2007
“The Bay Bridge,” officially known as The James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Bridge is an 8.4 mile (13.5 km) toll bridge that links the California cities of Oakland and San Francisco. With 280,000 vehicles crossing the span every day, it is one of the most highly traveled bridges in the US. During the California Gold Rush, San Francisco residents recognized the need for a bridge spanning San Francisco Bay; and in the early 1870s, which "Emperor of these United States" decreed that a bridge should be built?
October 12, 2007
Believing that Asia could be reached by traveling westward, Columbus' 3-ship expedition set sail from Palos, Spain in 1492. After a stop at the Canary Islands, Columbus sailed due west, turning in a more southerly direction after about 4 weeks at sea. Shortly thereafter, Columbus quelled a small mutiny and, on October 12, landed at an island in the Bahamas. Columbus also explored nearby Cuba and Hispaniola before returning to Spain. How many ships set sail with his second expedition?
October 9, 2007
In 1994, N Korea signed the “Agreed Framework,” consenting to freeze its plutonium production program; however, it covertly continued to pursue nuclear technology. On October 3, 2006, N Korea announced its intention to detonate a nuclear device. The nuclear test was conducted six days later, but its explosive force was so small that many question whether the test was truly successful. The UN Security Council responded days later, adopting Resolution 1718, which imposed what sanctions on N Korea?
October 1, 2007
The Honeymooners, a short lived American sitcom based on sketches by Jackie Gleason, debuted in 1955 and was initially rated the #2 show in the US. The comedy, which starred Gleason and Audrey Meadows as a struggling working class couple, aired opposite the popular
Perry Como Show and soon dropped 17 spots in the rankings. Though the show was cancelled after just 39 episodes, it has been aired for decades in syndication. What animated TV series did Gleason's show inspire?
September 23, 2007
Neptune is notable for being the 1st planet to be discovered by way of mathematical prediction rather than standard observation. Galileo observed Neptune twice in the early 1600s, but he mistook the planet for a fixed star and therefore is not credited with its discovery. Centuries later, small changes in Uranus' orbit led astronomers to seek out and discover the 8th and outermost planet of our solar system. Who predicted Neptune's location in the 1840s, and how accurate were the calculations?
September 11, 2007
On September 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger airplanes. They crashed two of the planes into the Twin Towers in NYC, and flew a third into the Pentagon building in Virginia. Passengers on the fourth flight attempted to retake control of the aircraft, but it crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11 were responsible for 2,973 confirmed casualties and an unknown number of injuries. What were the environmental consequences of 9/11?
