Arts & Culture

What Happened On March 29th? March 29th, 1974, forever changed the landscape of archaeology. On that day, a group of farmers in Lintong County, near the city of Xi'an, China, stumbled upon an unbelievable discovery – the Terracotta Army. Buried beneath the earth for over 2,000 years, this vast collection of life-sized terracotta warriors, horses, and chariots emerged from their slumber, offering a breathtaking glimpse into the power and ambition of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. How Was The Army Born? The Terracotta Army was not a random creation... it was all very meticulously planned for a specific purpose. Almost one thousand years before the rule of Charlemagne, Qin Shi Huang, a ruthless yet visionary ruler, obsessed with immortality, started a colossal project to buil...

What Happened On March 26th? March 26th of 1997 was a bizarre morning in Southern California, and nobody was expecting to find what they did. Police arrived at a secluded mansion in Rancho Santa Fe in the city of San Diego to discover a scene ripped from a sci-fi nightmare saga. Inside, 39 bodies lay peacefully under purple shrouds, all dressed identically in dark clothes and wearing the same exact pair of Nike sneakers. Why were they wearing those shoes? They were a favorite of the group's leader, Marshall Applewhite, who was a bit of a sneakerhead. He even used "Doe" (a play on his nickname) in place of "Do" in their adaptation of Nike's famous slogan, "Just Do It." The uniform clothing was part of a very specific ritual where members were supposed to "leave their earthly bod...

What Happened On March 22nd? On March 22nd of 1963, a little band from Liverpool, England, dropped their debut album, "Please Please Me." Recorded on a stereo, it would not be for another twenty years before the CD disc came out. Little did they know, this phenomenon would sweep the globe with Beatlemania! Believe it or not, most of "Please Please Me" was recorded in a single, marathon 10-hour session! The band's tight musicianship and George Martin's innovative production techniques made this rapid recording feat possible. Breaking tradition, both sides of the vinyl album contained original material. This decision showcased the band's songwriting prowess and commitment to artistic expression."Please Please Me" spent 30 weeks at the top of the UK charts, showing the band's insta...

What Happened On March 21st? On this date in 2006, Twitter cofounder, Jack Dorsey's ignited the public face of what today is known as "X." In a short, unassuming message, "just setting up my twttr," Dorsey's tweet paved the way for generations, where at least 500 million tweets are sent everyday. The early 2000s, more so in 2006, was huge for social media and changed the way that people shared information and connected with the world. While Twitter was taking its first steps, another platform, Facebook, was experiencing a quick upcoming. Founded in 2004, Facebook had already established itself as a dominant force on college campuses across the US. By 2006, it had expanded beyond academia, opening its doors to high school students and the general public. Twitter wasn't meant to b...

What Happened On March 8th? On March 8th of 1982 in Langenhagen, Germany, a new era of sound was ushered with the Compact Disc (CD). A collaboration between Sony and Philips, promised pristine digital audio unlike anything the world had experienced before. While the initial focus was on music, replacing the beloved crackle and pop of vinyl records, the CD's potential extended far beyond entertainment. Its ability to store large amounts of digital data in a compact format (hence the name!) hinted at future applications. If Thomas Edison knew that this would be a possibility 102 years later, he would have been shocked! Philips, a Dutch electronics giant, had been working on laser-based optical storage technology since the 1960s. On the other hand, Sony, a Japanese company, was one of the fou...

What Happened On February 16th? In the Valley of the Kings, shadows from the Pyramids swept over the sand-swept dunes on February 16th, 1923. Little did we know, one of the greatest discoveries of all time was close to happening. After years of relentless searching, British archaeologist Howard Carter stood poised at the undisturbed tomb of the first ever child Pharaoh, Tutankhamun. Officials, journalists, and Carter's team watched as he carefully chipped away at the final seal. For over 3,000 years, the chamber had been untouched by human hands, guarding the secrets of a forgotten king. Finally after all this time, Carter peered through the opening, uttering the now-legendary words, "I see wonderful things." Compared to influential rulers such as Charlemagne in 800 AD, Tutankhamun was a r...

What Happened On February 12th? It was February 12th, 1994, the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. With attention focused on the world's most renown athletes, something even chillier was going down within the walls of Oslo's National Gallery. Two masked figures, each armed with a pistol and a wire cutter, entered the museum shortly after 11:00 AM, despite it being the middle of the day. Their target was more valuable than the gold medals: Edvard Munch's, "The Scream." Within minutes, the thieves swiftly ripped the expressionist's artwork from its display and sarcastically left a note behind that read, "Thanks for the poor security!" Their escape was almost comical, and witnesses described the two as clumsy, as they carried the massive painting away in a getaway car....

What Happened On February 4th? On the night of February 4th in 2004, Mark Zuckerberg pressed publish on a website unlike any other. "TheFacebook" was aimed to solely connect Harvard students, but little did he know, this project would blossom into the social media titan it is today... Built with only $1,000 in seed funding, Facebook would amass over 3.049 billion monthly active users by 2023! Initially, "TheFacebook" offered a simple set of features - Create A Profile Add Friends Share Updates Its appeal, however, was undeniable. Within just a month, over 50% of Harvard's undergraduate population (1200-1500 users) had signed up. By the end of 2004, the first social media platform had reached 21 other universities, boasting over 1 million users. Recognizing the platform's potential...

What Happened On February 2nd? February 2nd in the year 1897 holds the date when the United States Patent Office issued Patent No. 576,395 to Alfred L. Cralle. An African American inventor and businessman, Calle's product, the "ice-cream mold and disher," took off and shaped the $19.77 billion ice cream industry today! Prior to Cralle's invention, serving ice cream was typically very messy and inefficient. Spoons and ladles often resulted in uneven portions as there was no standard "ice cream scooper." Working as a porter at a Pittsburgh drugstore, Cralle was able to see these issues firsthand and was determined to find a solution. His innovation wasn't the modern ice cream scoop we know today, but it was definitely a very positive basis! His "ice-cream mold and disher" combined two functi...

What Happened On January 6th? On January 6th, 1907, Maria Montessori opened the doors to Casa dei Bambini, her first school for children, in Rome, Italy! The opening not only the established the first Montessori school, but it also established the introduction of an innovative educational philosophy, redefining the way we perceive and nurture the potential of young minds today. Maria Montessori, born in 1870, was an incredible woman who broke societal norms. In 1896, she became the first woman in Italy to earn a medical degree from the University of Rome La Sapienza Medical School. Did you know that even the Pope himself endorsed Montessori for medical school? On top of that, she was life-long social justice activist. However, what led her to pioneer a new approach to education was her ba...