Avatar Posted by duke 320 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
Nancy Witcher Astor, or Viscountess Astor, was the second woman elected to the British Parliament's House of Commons and the first to actually serve. She was a Conservative member who concentrated on women's issues, temperance, and child welfare. Astor attracted a great deal of attention, much of it for her caustic and witty comments, and was reelected many times, serving until 1945. When she said to Winston Churchill, "If you were my husband, I'd put arsenic in your coffee," how did he respond?
read more »
Discuss   Add this link to...  Tell a friend   Bury
Avatar Posted by duke 321 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
The restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, one of the largest historic restorations ever undertaken, was championed by the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who wanted to celebrate the early history of America. Today, Colonial Williamsburg is almost completely restored. It features shops, taverns, and open-air markets in the colonial style, and it has become a popular tourist destination. Of the approximately 500 buildings in the historic area, how many are original?
read more »
Discuss   Add this link to...  Tell a friend   Bury
Avatar Posted by duke 322 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
When Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon entered the tomb of the Egyptian King Tutankhamun, they were the first people to do so in 3,000 years. The tomb was then the best preserved and most intact pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings. In order to remove King Tut's jewelry and amulets, Carter's team dissected the mummy, severing the ancient king's arms, legs, and head in the process. Later, the deaths of several of Carter's team members invited speculation about what ancient curse?
read more »
Discuss   Add this link to...  Tell a friend   Bury
Avatar Posted by duke 323 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
At the Battle of Montgisard, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, established by the First Crusade and led by Baldwin IV, defeated Saladin, the renowned Kurdish military general. Learning of Saladin's plans to invade from Egypt, Baldwin's forces surprised his army en route and were triumphant despite inferior numbers. Saladin renewed his attacks, but not before the kingdom enjoyed a year of peace. The victory soon became a heroic legend. What powerful Christian military order participated in the fighting?
read more »
Discuss   Add this link to...  Tell a friend   Bury
Avatar Posted by duke 324 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to sight the island of Tasmania, off the coast of Australia. He named it Anthoonij van Diemenslandt, after his sponsor, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. In 1803, Great Britain took possession of the island and established a penal colony there. The indigenous population numbered about 5,000 at the time of colonization but was subsequently decimated, leaving only a few mixed-race survivors. Who was the last full-blooded Tasmanian Aborigine?
read more »
Discuss   Add this link to...  Tell a friend   Bury
Avatar Posted by duke 325 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
This long-running science fiction program about a mysterious time-traveling adventurer known only as "the Doctor" has become a significant part of British popular culture. Despite its featuring of low-budget special effects, it was widely recognized for creative storytelling and use of innovative music. After twenty-six seasons and a TV movie, Doctor Who recently reappeared as a new series. What machine does the Doctor use to travel through time and space?
read more »
Discuss   Add this link to...  Tell a friend   Bury
Avatar Posted by duke 326 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
The assassination of John F. Kennedy while he was riding in a presidential motorcade in Dallas was a seminal event in American history. Although two official investigations have concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the culprit, the assassination is still the subject of widespread speculation and has spawned a number of conspiracy theories. Who was the "Babushka Lady," and what was she doing at the time of the assassination?
read more »
Discuss   Add this link to...  Tell a friend   Bury
Avatar Posted by duke 327 days ago (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com)
Category: This Day in History
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City (NYC). From the time of its completion until 1981, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world, with a center span of 4260 ft (1298 m). The bridge furnishes a critical link in the local and regional highway system, and it is widely known today as the starting point for the NYC Marathon. The bridge was the last great public works project overseen by what famous "master builder"?
read more »
Discuss   Add this link to...  Tell a friend   Bury




Powered By Pligg | Legal: License and Source