Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2017 December 25

= December 25 =

American Airlines Flight 77
Is the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77 did a sharp Maneuver seconds before crashing onto the first floor of the pentagon? or it just a conspiracy theorists imagination? 37.142.17.66 (talk) 12:16, 25 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Witnesses described the plane “banking” slightly as it approached the Pentigon... but not a “sharp maneuver”. Blueboar (talk) 13:25, 25 December 2017 (UTC)

Women and children first!
You may have heard expressions like "Women and children first!", for example, in the context of the Titanic. This expression has been puzzling me for years.

Children come in two sexes: boys and girls. Girls develop into women and therefore stay included in this expression. Boys, however, develop to men, and fall outside the expression.

My question is, how is it defined when this happen? At which point in a male's life does he stop being included in "Women and children first!"? J I P &#124; Talk 14:47, 25 December 2017 (UTC)


 * See Women and children first as well as child. When a boy is considered a man varies wildly between different cultures, and have changed over time. WegianWarrior (talk) 14:58, 25 December 2017 (UTC)


 * There was also the sense of honor as it relates to the young male; when declared: "Woman and children first", the young male may have taken the initiative to speak for himself and stay with the "men", (or defer to others to decide). Similar to the example of the many under-age "boys" who lied about their age in order to enlist in WWII. 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:B8D8:3FE9:323E:5312 (talk) 23:57, 25 December 2017 (UTC)
 * It also depends on how many seats are remaining in the lifeboats once the women and children are loaded up... a 16 year old who was initially placed with the “men” (and told to hold back), may subsequently be told “get in a lifeboat, my boy” if there are remaining seats. Blueboar (talk) 01:14, 26 December 2017 (UTC)

For the specific case of the Titanic, see the discussion here. --76.69.117.217 (talk) 04:45, 26 December 2017 (UTC)


 * I find questions like this interesting because the mindset that led to them was constructed in such a way as to not lead to the answer. It's somewhat similar to a depth-first search. As stated, the question can be parsed like this: "We have sinking boats and need to determine who will stay and who will go. How do we determine that?" But that is not how it happened. People have been categorizing folks into "adults" and "children" according to various criteria for forever. That categorization, however perfect or flawed, is what got applied during maritime disasters. By looking at the very rare circumstance first, we can blind ourselves to common-sense answers. Matt Deres (talk) 14:28, 27 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Perhaps the OP might think in terms of "adult males stay behind" instead. Alansplodge (talk) 22:42, 27 December 2017 (UTC)

Monsignor Joseph Nelligan
I am trying to find the biography for Monsignor Joseph Nelligan who was assigned to various parishes in Baltimore, Maryland. For a time he was assigned to the Immaculate Conception Church in Towson Maryland. I'd like to learn what other parishes he was assigned to prior to being elevated to Monsignor.Google search reveals he passed away May 12, 1978 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmhub315 (talk • contribs) 15:16, 25 December 2017 (UTC)
 * This is from the parish history of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Towson:
 * Prior to assuming responsibility as pastor of Immaculate Conception parish, the Right Reverend Joseph M. Nelligan, a native of Towson ordained in 1926, served at Saint Gabriel's Church, Washington; in 1936 was chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Washington, and, as rector of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, supervised the renovation there from 1943 - 1947.
 * There's also a capsule biography of him in the 1939 edition of The American Catholic Who's Who which confirms that he was curate of St. Gabriel's, Washington, but again without giving dates.    Elsewhere he's spoken of as being curate of St Gabriel's in 1930, 1933 and 1934.  So as far as I can make out his career goes St Gabriel's, Washington, then Immaculate Conception, Towson, then higher things in the Archdiocese. --Antiquary (talk) 19:45, 25 December 2017 (UTC)

Music Identification—Cuba Vacation Travel Guide
What is the the music playing behind this video? Bus stop (talk) 21:50, 25 December 2017 (UTC) Update—I think it may be unanswerable. I read in the comments section "Will you please mention the name of title of background music?" The response is "The music was composed just for our Cuba video, we will have it available to listen to on our Viewfinder Image Library in the coming weeks ahead." Bus stop (talk) 01:43, 26 December 2017 (UTC)