It's time for the akg-images Virtual Watercooler, with conversation openers and topics to make you the source of interesting chat in your workplace.
Now that many of us are no longer working remotely, it's time to reacquaint yourself with the art of small talk. Scroll down for next week's topics.
21 November 1898 - Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte was born. Magritte is best known for his witty and thought-provoking images. If you didn't study art, then you're probably most familiar with Magritte's "The Son of Man", which featured in the 1999 heist film '"The Thomas Crown Affair". TAP THE IMAGE FOR MORE. (AKG5609697 "The Son of Man," 1964, by René Magritte. ©akg-images / Album / Fine Art Images) 21 November 1783 - Jean-Francois Pilâtre de Rozier and Francois Laurent d’Arlandes became the first people to fly in an untethered hot air balloon. The pair flew around 5.5 miles over Paris, spending almost half an hour in the air in a balloon constructed by ballooning pioneers - the Montgolfier brothers. Two years later, in another first, Pilâtre de Rozier and his companion Pierre Romain became the first fatalities of an aviation disaster when their balloon crashed to the ground in an attempt to cross the English Channel. (AKG6331820 Engraving depicting François Laurent le Vieux d'Arlandes and Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier in their Montgolfier balloon © akg-images / IAM / World History Archive) 22 November 1995 - "Toy Story", the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery is released. The film, starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as the voices of the main characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear, was also the first feature-length release from Pixar, launching them into animation super-stardom. Did you know - all of the humans in Toy Story have short hair or tied-back styles as rendering complex 3D effects like hair movement, explosions, and water droplets was too complicated at the time. (AKG500976 Still from "Toy Story", 1995. © akg-images / Album / Pixar Animation Studios / Walt Disney Pictures) 23 November 1869 - The tea clipper Cutty Sark is launched In Dumbarton, Scotland, one of the last clippers ever built and the only one still surviving. During its years as a British merchant ship, Cutty Sark visited sixteen different countries and travelled the equivalent distance of two and a half voyages to the moon and back. The Cutty Sark was towed to a dry dock at Greenwich in December 1954, where it remains today. (AKG2175808 "The British clipper the Cutty Sark sailing off the coast of China", by Brazendale Cunnelly, 19th Century. © akg-images / De Agostini Picture Library) 24 November 1859 - Charles Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species" is published. Including evidence that he had collected on the Beagle expedition in the 1830s and his subsequent findings from research, correspondence, and experimentation, Darwin offered theories on natural selection and evolution that were praised and defended by many scientists but rejected by religious leaders and members of the public. The book was banned in various countries around the world. TAP THE IMAGE FOR MORE. (AKG726824 Charles Darwin at work on “The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom”. ©akg-images) If you enjoyed reading this, why not subscribe to our Newsroom and get updates delivered straight to your inbox?
