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Today's Birthday Walter Adolph Gropius (1883)
 Gropius was the immensely influential director of the Bauhaus school of art and architecture in Germany. In 1937, he immigrated to America and became head of Harvard's architecture department. He was an early exponent of the International style and believed that all design—whether of a chair, a building, or a city—should focus on the particular needs and problems involved, without regard to old styles. His 1923 re-design of what everyday object is now considered an icon of 20th-century design? Discuss
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In the News
EU Attacks Pirate Bases
 Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue, particularly in the waters off the coast of Somalia, where the hijacking of commercial vessels and their crew for exorbitant ransoms is becoming an increasingly frequent occurrence. Military vessels from countries around the globe have long patrolled the dangerous waters, and now the EU is taking the fight to the pirates’ doorsteps. In an effort to deny the pirates a safe haven on shore and to disrupt their operations, EU forces conducted their first raid on pirate bases on the mainland. The strike destroyed a key supply center and rendered at least five of the pirates’ fast attack vessels inoperable. Discuss
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Etruscan civilization reached its height in the 6th century BCE in what is now Italy, and much of its religion was later adopted by the Romans. Famous for divination, the Etruscans believed that the will of the gods was present in every aspect of nature and looked for divine signs everywhere, including in lightning, the livers of sacrificed animals, and the flight of birds. What example did the Roman philosopher Seneca use to illustrate the different religious approaches of Romans and Etruscans? 
Beginning in mid-March 1980, a series of earth tremors and steam explosions at Washington's Mount Saint Helens suggested that the volcano—dormant since 1857—was on the verge of erupting. Then, on May 18, the entire north side of the mountain exploded in a cloud of ash, rock, and fiery gases that collapsed a good part of it and carried debris for many miles. About 60 people were killed, and millions of tons of ash blanketed much of the American northwest. How far did the ash eventually spread? 
