An interesting historical story.
His parents were Irish immigrants. Andrew was born on the border between the Carolinas. Both states claim his birthplace. During the American Revolution, he was a courier for the Continental Army. At age 13, he and his brother were taken captive. When he refused to shine the boots of a Read more…
Netflix has a new movie called “The Bombardment”. It is a Danish film (with dubbed dialogue) that tells a fictional tale based on one of the greatest tragedies of collateral damage in WWII. I don’t recommend showing it in the classroom unless you want a class full of crying kids, Read more…
The worst mining disaster in European history occurred on March, 10, 1906. 1,099 coal miners at a mine in northern France were killed when coal dust exploded. (The worst mining accident was the Benxihu Colliery Incident in China in 1942. 1,549 miners were killed.) On March 9, a fire Read more…
Lizzie Magie was a woman ahead of her time. She was a feminist and a socialist. In fact, she was an anti-monopolist at a time when the Robber Barons reigned. She wrote poetry. She also designed games. In 1904, she came up with a game she called “The Landlord’s Read more…
Anne Sullivan is the most famous teacher of the deaf in American History. She limited herself to one pupil – Helen Keller. The two met on March 3, 1887. Keller was the daughter of well-to-do ex-Confederate officer. She had a stable family life, although she was the cause of Read more…
The most famous witchcraft trials were held in Salem, Massachusetts between February, 1692 and May, 1693. Teenage girls accused members of the community of being witches and before the hysteria ran its course 200 people were accused. 30 were found guilty. 20 were executed (19 hanged and one pressed Read more…
On Feb. 27, 1933 the Reichstag (German Parliament) building caught fire and was substantially damaged. Hitler and the Nazis blamed it on the communists and in order to avert a communist takeover, Hitler was given dictatorial powers. But was the fire actually set by the Nazis? By 1933, Read more…
John Kellogg was born on Feb. 26, 1852. He was a Seventh-Day Adventist. They believed the Second Coming was near, so education was a waste of time. He only had a few years of formal schooling, but he read a lot and ended up going to medical school and Read more…
Cathay Williams was born in 1844. Her father was a freed slave and her mother was enslaved. She grew up to be a house slave on a plantation in Missouri. When the Civil War broke out, her area was taken by the Union Army and she became contraband. This Read more…
Iwo Jima was invaded on Feb. 21, 1945. The going was tough, but two days later the volcano Mount Suribachi was conquered. Although the fighting continued for weeks, the taking of the mountain was symbolic of eventual victory. Recognizing this, First Lieutenant Harold Schrier was ordered to lead a Read more…