This week in the past – February 8-14

February 8-14, 2016 – This week features the movie Birth of a Nation, North Korea’s admitting for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons, playwright Arthur Miller, Nelson Mandela’s release from jail, the recovery of the monarch butterfly, the patenting of the Cinematographe and the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

February 8, 1915: The motion picture Birth of a Nation, directed by D.W. Griffith and considered the first great movie production, premiered in Los Angeles.

February 9, 2005: North Korea admitted for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons, and announced it was suspending participation in disarmament talks.

February 10, 2005: Influential playwright Arthur Miller, whose works included Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, died aged 89. He was briefly married to Marilyn Monroe.

February 11, 1990: Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s black nationalist leader, was released after 27 years in jail for charges related to the ANC’s armed campaign against apartheid.

February 12, 2003: Scientists said the monarch butterfly population appeared to have made an almost complete recovery from the massive die-off of the previous winter.

February 13, 1895: French brothers Louis and Auguste Lumiere patented the Cinematographe, ajoint camera and film projector that ushered in the birth of modern cinema.

February 14, 2005: Rafik Hariri, Lebanon’s former Prime Minister, was assassinated when a massive bomb struck his motorcade in Beirut, killing him and 22 other people.

Fill in the gaps with words from the list (two of them are not necessary):

1. He talked only … because he didn’t have more time.

2. The engineer … his new invention immediately.

3. The president defended himself against the … .

4. She’s very … , thousands of people read her books.

5. The boy … that he had broken the window.

6. He walked around the fields, collecting … with a net.

7. He was a well-known … , his plays were popular in the theatres.

8. She was happy to meet her … classmates again.

9. The parties … the talks for the holidays and continued them after that.

10. The police prevented the … of the minister by terrorists.

a. influential

b. charges

c. assassination

d. patented

e. ushered

f. former

g. briefly

h. recovery

i. suspended

j. butterflies

k. admitted

l. playwright

Key:

1.g. 2.d. 3.b. 4.a 5.k. 6.j. 7.l. 8.f. 9.i. 10.c