Black Herstory
Claudette Colvin was arrested on March 2, 1955 for refusing to do this. However, her efforts were not publicized by civil rights leaders as she was pregnant and unwed at 15. A similar act of civil disobedience was staged in December that year, by a woman you just may have heard of.
give up her seat (on the bus for a white man)
Besides Valentine’s, this is the other major holiday in February
Feb 2nd or Presidents' Day
Even if you don’t wear glasses, you have one of these for each eye (it focuses light)
lens
When you roast jalapeño peppers, you get this spice that sounds like a place to get a burrito bowl
chipotle
Beta-carotene is good for you, but it was radar that gave British pilots superhuman sight, not these things
carrots
2023 was a breakout year for this comedian/actress who starred as Sydney Adamu in The Bear and Josie in Bottoms
Ayo Edebiri
Valentine’s Day may have pagan origins in this Roman fertility festival that celebrated Remus and Romulus being reared by a she-wolf (“lupa”)
Lupercalia
Your "eye color" refers to this organ that expands or contracts to let in light
iris
Spiciness is measured using this scale
Scoville
This gun-laden monster first became widely used because horses and carriages couldn’t cross trenches
tank
Roll over, Beethoven: gospel singer and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe is hailed as the “Godmother of” this music style.
rock and roll
Al Capone was suspected in Chicago’s St. Valentine’s Day massacre, a gang hit that took place February 14 of this year
1929
Light hits this at the back of the eye and travels down the optic nerve
retina
This is the chemical compound that makes peppers spicy
capsaicin
For breaking this German code, we can thank Alan Turing, such a clever coder that we still give the Turing Test to tell robots from humans
Enigma
In 1972, she became the first woman to seek the nomination for president from one of the two major parties. Though she didn’t win, the trailblazer said “The door is not open yet, but it is ajar.”
Shirley Chisholm
One account of the historical St. Valentine says that he performed these ceremonies in secret after they were outlawed by the Roman Emperor Claudius II
weddings
Not as funny as it sounds: this is the jelly center of the eyeball
vitreous humor
This West African/Caribbean chili pepper is named for its supposed resemblance to a tam o’shanter
Scotch bonnet
Not all wartime advances were weapons: this antibacterial was first developed, mass-produced, and used during WWII
penicillin
CA governor Ronald Reagan vowed that this prison abolitionist would never teach again in the UC system. Today she is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz. (UCSC also brought you Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton)
Angela Davis
This poet was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a romantic holiday in 1375, writing “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate”
Geoffrey Chaucer
When you have pinkeye, you have an inflammation of this mucous membrane
conjunctiva
Beware the pepper whose skin has this feature: it may be extra-spicy
wrinkly
The first long-range guided ballistic missile and the first human-made object to cross the boundary of space
German V-2