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When their existing president resigned in 1987, students at Gallaudet University, a liberal arts university for the deaf in Washington, DC, began campaigning for a deaf successor to the post, which had never been held by a deaf person. When the school's board selected a hearing candidate on March 6, 1988, students began to protest and issued four demands, including the immediate naming of a new deaf president and the resignation of the chair of the board. How many of their demands were met? Discuss

Many Bostonians resented the heavy British military presence in their city during the late 1700s, and the soldiers' enforcement of the unpopular Townshend Acts merely exacerbated the tense situation. On March 5, 1770, soldiers opened fire on an aggressive, rioting civilian mob, killing five men. The Boston Massacre, as it became known, fueled the anti-British sentiment that culminated in the American Revolutionary War. Which future US president served as the troops' defense lawyer?

Frederick Barbarossa was elected King of Germany in 1152 and crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1155. Shortly thereafter, an apparent misunderstanding with Pope Adrian IV led Frederick to mount military operations against Italy and install an antipope in opposition to Adrian's successor. The schism continued for some time, but Frederick and the Catholic pontiff ultimately reconciled. According to scholars, what factors may have contributed to Frederick's drowning death in the shallow Saleph River?

Though the April Uprising of 1876, a Bulgarian revolt against the perceived Ottoman oppression, failed as a revolution, it succeeded in raising international support for the Bulgarian plight. News of atrocities committed by Ottoman troops suppressing the uprising quickly spread to the international community, and Russia soon declared war on the Ottomans. The subsequent Treaty of San Stefano created a large autonomous Bulgaria within the Ottoman Empire, but it was later revised. Why?

Recognized as one of the National Basketball Association's greatest players of all time, Wilt Chamberlain led the league in scoring for 7 seasons and in rebounding 11 times, was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player 4 times, and was elected to basketball's Hall of Fame. However, he is perhaps best known for being the only player in league history to score 100 points in a single game—a feat he achieved while playing for the Philadelphia Warriors. How many total points were scored in that game?

Viewed by many to be the result of a period of factional infighting and religious hysteria, the witch trials of Puritanical Salem Village, Massachusetts, led to the executions of 20 people—15 women and five men—and the imprisonment of approximately 150 accused witches. Even after the trials ended, people who had previously been found not guilty of witchcraft remained in prison, held until they paid their jail fees. What is "spectral evidence," and how did it play a role in the witch trials?

After investigating charges of child abuse and the illegal stockpiling of weapons at the Texas ranch of the Branch Davidian religious sect, US ATF agents raided the compound. The confrontation turned violent, and 10 people were killed in the firefight. A siege of the compound ended 51 days later, when the complex was engulfed in flames. Seventy-nine people, including 21 children and Davidian leader David Koresh, died in the incident. How did the Davidians receive advance warning of the ATF raid?

Occurring in the midst of the Dominican Republic's turbulent 19th-century history, the 1844 revolt that overthrew French-Haitian rule established an independent republic with a presidency that was, in turns, held by Pedro Santana and Buenaventura Báez. Each president at one point tried to bring stability to the country through foreign rule—the former through Spain and the latter through the US. During what period did the US occupy the island nation and establish a military government there?

Radar is a means for detecting the position, movement, and nature of a remote object through radio waves reflected from its surface. During the 1930s, several countries independently developed the technology for military use, exploiting radar's capacity to detect aircrafts and ships. One of the earliest practical radar systems was devised by Sir Robert Watson-Watt, a descendent of the inventor of the steam engine, James Watt. What was the "Battle of the Beams"?

Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which depicts the last hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, is the highest-grossing R-rated film ever made and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Several Jewish groups have expressed concern that the film blames the death of Jesus on the Jews as a collective group and could encourage anti-Semitism. The movie has also sparked debate about whether its depictions of violence are too graphic. In what languages is the film's dialogue spoken?

Marbury v. Madison was a landmark case in US law that resulted in the first decision by the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional and void an act passed by Congress. It established the basis for the exercise of judicial review of federal statutes by the US Supreme Court, thus rendering the court an equal partner among the three branches of the US federal government. Who were the "Midnight Judges"?

The US Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, sometimes called "GTMO" or "Gitmo," was established in Cuba in 1898. After Cuba gained its independence, the US assumed territorial control of Guantánamo Bay. Though the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty granted the US a perpetual lease of the area, the current Cuban government considers the American presence in Guantánamo to be an illegal occupation. According to the terms of the treaty, how much must the US pay each year for the use of Guantánamo Bay?

Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University is named for philanthropist Johns Hopkins, who donated $7 million for the foundation of the university and Johns Hopkins Hospital—the largest philanthropic bequest in US history at the time. Johns Hopkins University was the first American research university and was later used as a model for most large research universities in the US. How did Hopkins get his unusual first name?

Commissioned by the Communist League and written by theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the Communist Manifesto is one of the most influential political tracts in history. It calls on the proletariat to overthrow the capitalists, abolish private property, and take over the means of production and advocates policies such as a progressive income tax system and universal free public education. After predicting an eventual classless society, the document ends with what famous statement?

Henry VIII's long-awaited heir, Edward VI succeeded his father to the throne at the age of nine. Edward was the first English ruler to be Protestant at the time of his ascension to the throne, and during his reign, the government moved away from Catholicism and officially established Protestantism in England. Edward is thought by some to have suffered from congenital syphilis or tuberculosis, and he died when he was just 15. Why was Edward's death kept secret for several days?

The Battle of Gallipoli took place on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli during World War I. It was initiated by the Allies in an attempt to open their supply routes to Russia, establish a new war front, and draw Bulgaria and Greece into the war as allies. Ultimately, the Allies hoped to capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople, and they fought a fierce and bloody campaign for several months before withdrawing in January of 1916. The debacle led to the resignation of what British official?

Pluto was discovered by the astronomer Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona while he was searching for "Planet X," a hypothetical planet that was believed to exist beyond Neptune. Pluto was long regarded as a planet, but following the discovery of other, larger Kuiper belt objects, astronomers recognized the need to reclassify Pluto. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union ended official recognition of Pluto as a planet. What is Pluto's current classification?

Kasparov is a chess grandmaster and one of the strongest players in history. He was the youngest person to become the World Chess Federation's World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1985 until 1993. In 1996, Kasparov played against a super-computer called "Deep Blue," which was capable of evaluating 100 million positions per second. He lost the first game, but rebounded in the next five games to beat the machine. What happened when Kasparov faced the computer in a rematch a year later?

The 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, produced a treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in order to combat global warming, but it failed to establish mandatory limits or enforcement provisions. The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the agreement that establishes such limits. Countries that ratify the treaty promise to reduce their emission of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases or engage in emissions trading. Which countries have not ratified the agreement?

The Ocean Ranger was a semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit that sank in Canadian waters on February 15, 1982, killing all 84 crewmembers on board. The crew had been drilling an exploration well in the Grand Banks area, 166 miles (267 kilometers) east of St. John's, Newfoundland, for Mobil Oil of Canada, Ltd., when a sudden storm struck the rig. A Canadian Royal Commission spent two years investigating the disaster. What were the commission's conclusions?