On September 5, 1836, Sam Houston is elected as president of the Republic of Texas, which earned its independence from Mexico in a successful military rebellion. Born in Virginia in 1793, Houston moved with his family to rural Tennessee after his father’s death; as a teenager, he ran away and lived for several years with the Cherokee tribe. Houston servedContinue reading “History Lesson Tuesdays: Sam Houston Elected as President of Texas in 1836”
Category Archives: On this day
History Lesson Tuesdays: Apple launches iTunes, revolutionizing how people consume music
On January 9, 2001, Apple launches iTunes, a media player that revolutionized the way people consumed digital media. Bill Kincaid and Jeff Robbin, two former Apple employees, developed an MP3 player called SoundJam MP in the late 1990s. In 2000, Apple re-hired them and their partner, Dave Heller, to work on a similar player that wouldContinue reading “History Lesson Tuesdays: Apple launches iTunes, revolutionizing how people consume music”
History Lesson Tuesday: December 5, 1933. The End of Prohibition in America.
The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, repealing the 18th Amendment and bringing an end to the era of national prohibition of alcohol in America. At 5:32 p.m. EST, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, achieving the requisite three-fourths majority of states’ approval. Pennsylvania and Ohio had ratified it earlier in the day. The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began inContinue reading “History Lesson Tuesday: December 5, 1933. The End of Prohibition in America.”
History Lesson Tuesdays: 1877 Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph.
Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a way to record and play back sound. Edison stumbled on one of his great inventions—the phonograph—while working on a way to record telephone communication at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. His work led him to experiment with a stylus on a tinfoil cylinder, which, to hisContinue reading “History Lesson Tuesdays: 1877 Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph.”
History Lesson Tuesdays: Herman Melville Publishes “Moby Dick” in 1851.
Moby-Dick is now considered a great classic of American literature and contains one of the most famous opening lines in fiction: “Call me Ishmael.” Initially, though, the book about Captain Ahab and his quest to catch a giant white whale was a flop. Its author, Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819. As a young man, heContinue reading “History Lesson Tuesdays: Herman Melville Publishes “Moby Dick” in 1851.”
What is the Day of the Dead?
Day of the Dead This lively Mexican celebration helps families honor their ancestors. Skeletons are scary, right? Not if you’re celebrating Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. REMEMBERING RELATIVES Day of the Dead combines the ancient Aztec custom of celebrating ancestors with All Souls’ Day, a holiday that Spanish invaders brought to Mexico startingContinue reading “What is the Day of the Dead?”
Jimmy Carter Wins Nobel Peace Prize
On October 11, 2002, former President Jimmy Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter, a peanut farmer from Georgia, served one term as U.S. president between 1977 and 1981. One of hisContinue reading “Jimmy Carter Wins Nobel Peace Prize”
History Lesson Tuesday: 1845 US Naval Academy Opens
The United States Naval Academy opens in Annapolis, Maryland, with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors. Known as the Naval School until 1850, the curriculum included mathematics and navigation, gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural philosophy, and French. The Naval School officially became the U.S. Naval Academy in 1850, and a new curriculum went intoContinue reading “History Lesson Tuesday: 1845 US Naval Academy Opens”
Work Begins on Mount Rushmore
October 4, 1927 On October 4, 1927, sculpting begins on the face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota. It would take another 12 years for the granite images of four of America’s most revered presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt—to be completed. The monument was the brainchild of a South Dakota historian namedContinue reading “Work Begins on Mount Rushmore”
History Lesson Tuesdays: Dog Unearths Cave of Antiquity
Marcel Ravidat, second from left in beret, with his friends at the cave entrance in 1940
Vintage Dava 