James Oglethorpe (1696-1785) was a strong advocate for prison reform in England. He also proposed forming the colony of Georgia, which he envisioned as a place where people jailed in English debtors’ prisons could be sent to start a new life with everyone on equal footing. (That included prohibiting slavery.) King George II chartered the colony in 1732 and Oglethorpe supervised its development. Ironically, not one of Georgia’s first colonists came from among the unfortunate folks in debtors’ prison.
Marshalsea debtors’ prison is a setting in “Little Dorrit” by which English author?
A) Jane Austen
B) Emily Bronte
C) Charles Dickens
D) Thomas Hardy
Previous answer: In geometry, a chord is a line that connects two points on a circle.
TRIVIA FANS: Leslie Elman is the author of “Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts.” Contact her at [email protected]


