History

Shanghai World Expo – facts, figures, and its purpose

The Shanghai World Expo is in full gear right now, about halfway through its 184-day run.  Yes, you read that right – 184 days!  Ticket sales will likely exceed $1 billion USD, yet few Americans are probably even aware of its existence.  Here’s a quick education: China put in the bid to host the 2010 [...]

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Pamplona’s bulls like Tipper this year: no “Gore” so far

The famous bull run began in Pamplona, Spain this morning, and for the first go ’round, you’ll be happy to know that no one was gored.  Here are a few notes you might not know about the running of the bulls, and you can mention them when you see some idiot brave soul willingly putting [...]

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America’s Independence Day – July 2nd?

We all know the story. July 4 is when the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. For Americans, Independence Day conjures up images of Thomas Jefferson writing the historic document or John Hancock’s famous signature. Many people even remember one of the opening sentences: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [...]

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June 12 – a day for “Loving” civil rights

Loving Day isn’t a federal holiday or even a state holiday, but the holiday celebrates a monumental turning point in civil rights.  However, many people do not know what Loving Day is, so here are the basic facts. Mildred and Richard Loving were married in June of 1958 in Washington, D.C.  However, when the couple [...]

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Rerun – Flag Etiquette

In honor of Memorial Day today, Dinner Topics is posting a “rerun” of the original Flag Etiquette post from last year. You can find the original post here. It is important to know that flag wavers take their respect of the flag very seriously. Most of us know the basics, but if you don’t know [...]

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Paintings Pilfered in Paris

Ok, ”pilfered” is a poor word choice when describing a heist valued at nine figures, but the alliteration in the title got you here, didn’t it? Normally, Dinner Topics likes to briefly explain the “behind the scenes” of the topics you should know about, but this one pretty much speaks for itself and I just couldn’t [...]

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The Pentagon – world’s largest office building

Yesterday evening’s shooting at the Pentagon is sure to keep the famous building in the news.  If you haven’t read about the shooting, you can find that story here. While talking about it tonight, it would help to know some facts about the Pentagon other than its obvious shape.  Not obvious from the many overhead [...]

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Buddhism Briefing

Everyone will be talking about Tiger Woods’ public apology tonight, and if you haven’t seen or heard it, first of all, you’re not missing anything, second of all, a quick Google search will give you what you need.  One item that will likely be discussed as well is Tiger’s mention of returning to Buddhist traditions.1 [...]

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