This Day in History

What happened on your birthday in other years? A hundred years ago? What events have happened on important holidays? Pick any date and find out what happened on that date in United States history. History can be tons of fun and you can totally amaze your friends if you come up with weird stuff like knowing something famous that happened on a particular day. Hey! Find out what happened on your friends' birthdays and write it on a birthday card! Here are a few places where you can find out what happened on "this day in history":

The History of Today
Choose a date to see what happened that day in years past.

This Day in History (from the History Channel)
Daily historical trivia and search tool.

Today in History (Library of Congress)
Find out what happened today in U.S. history.

Peter, Paul, & Mary - A Great Music Group

Peter, Paul, & Mary first got really famous in the 1960's singing folk music and some rock n' roll but always, the songs they sang made you want to think more about the words they were singing. Sometimes serious, sometimes sad, sometimes just plain fun -- Peter, Paul & Mary's music is great for kids of today, too! They have never really stopped teaching and making us think. Their music is still popular and they are loved by several generations of fans.

Here are some of their songs. As you listen, try to imagine what they are trying to tell you. What is the theme or meaning behind each song? Did you enjoy it? Do you think you could learn to sing it?

I bet you and your Mom and Dad would have a lot of fun singing these songs together.

Who, What, Where? A REALLY FUN GAME

I created this little game of "Who, What, Where?" to have some fun with good stuff to know. It's kind of like a mini-encyclopedia of fun facts and pictures covering all sorts of subjects. Here's how you play:

1. CAREFUL! Don't put your mouse cursor over any tiny picture pieces until you are sure you are ready to do that.

2. Look at the tiny pieces of pictures and try to guess what the main picture is... "Who" if it's a person and you think you know who, "What" if it's an animal or object, and "Where" if it is a location and exactly where do you think it is? So far, so good?

3. When you are ready to know the answers for sure, move your mouse cursor over a tiny picture piece and it will show you the main picture and give you the answer.

4. If you are the really curious type, CLICK on the tiny picture piece and a new window will pop up showing you a new webpage (not part of this blog) that gives you more details or shows something related to the main picture.

5. HAVE FUN!

Ice Cream!

Do you like ice cream? Millions and millions of people all around the world love ice cream. Ice cream was probably first made in China by combining fruit with ice and then found its way to Europe. King Tang (A.D. 618-97) of Shang, China was known to have combined fruit and ice and milk to make an iced cream product.

As far back as 345 B.C., after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, he ordered that fifteen huge trenches be dug in the ground and filled with ice imported from a far distance just so he could have his favorite iced fruit dessert. 2,000 years later, that favorite dessert is still served up pretty much the same way and we call it a snow cone.

The Roman emperor Nero (A.D. 37-68) was an ice cream lover.

Ice cream has been around the USA since the early origins of our country. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as well as Dolly Madison and other famous Americans served it to guests. New York City is home to America's very first ice cream parlor which opened in 1776 (the year America declared its independence!).

When ice started being mixed with salt in the production of ice cream, that provided a major breakthrough in ice cream technology. The hand-cranked feezer came along in the 1800's with more than one person applying for a patent, claiming they were first to invent it.

When mechanical refrigeration was invented, the ice cream shop or soda fountain parlor was born. 31 Flavors Ice Cream, anyone?

The first ice cream cones that you could hold in your hand and walk around with were first served at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Chocolate-covered ice cream (also known as Eskimo Pies) was created in 1920 by Chris Nelson who owned an ice cream shop in Iowa and noticed that one of his customers was having a hard time choosing between an ice cream sandwich and a chocolate bar.

Find out even more information about ice cream here (not very young kid-oriented, exactly, but it is a great resource for older kids and parents and teachers).

Americans annually consume about 6 gallons of ice cream per person -- that's roughly 19,200 calories. What flavor of ice cream is YOUR favorite? How many other people say it's their favorite, too? Here is one top ten list made by news channel, CNN:

1. Vanilla (29%)
2. Chocolate (8.9%)
3. Butter Pecan (5.3%)
4. Strawberry (5.3%)
5. Neopolitan (4.2%)
6. Chocolate Chip (3.9%)
7. French Vanilla (3.8%)
8. Cookies n' Cream (3.6%)
9. Fudge Ripple (2.6%)
10. Praline (2.7%)

The Top 10 Ice Cream Consuming Countries in the World are:

1. United States
2. New Zealand
3. Denmark
4. Australia
5. Belgium / Luxembourg
6. Sweden
7. Canada
8. Norway
9. Ireland
10. Switzerland

If you and your family enjoy making your own ice cream, you can find some good recipes here, here, here, and here.

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Website has a special fun section for kids. SAFETY WARNING FOR KIDS AND PARENTS: Even though I'm sure this is a safe website, it does offer downloads of fun stuff so, kids, you must tell your parents FIRST that you want to download something before you actually do it. That same advice goes for the following webpages that offer lots of fun activities all having to do with ice cream:



If you like to make your own webpages or you like to have fun email stationery or you need pictures of ice cream for any reason, you are welcome to use any of these images and backgrounds:


And here's a fun list of books about the subject of ice cream. Some are stories and some are recipes and other things. I think there's something here for every age level so check out the whole list. Remember, a book list is also a list of things to buy and kids need their parents' permission and help to do anything like that. I'm making book lists because I think parents and teachers appreciate that sort of stuff.

Rare Views of the Statue of Liberty

Photographed from a rare vantage point, several of the Statue of Liberty's 25 observation windows look out over New York Harbor in an undated picture. Visitor access to the Statue of Liberty's crown reopens on the Fourth of July for the first time since 9/11. (Full story: "Statue of Liberty Facts: July 4th Reopening and More.") SEE THE PICTURE SLIDESHOW HERE

Alabama

The State Flag

Alabama

The State Seal

State Bird Yellowhammer	State Tree Longleaf Pine	State Flower Camellia
State Fruit Blackberry	State Butterfly Tiger Swallowtail	State Gem Blue Quartz

Alabama is the 22nd State (admitted to the United States of America on December 14, 1819).

The word Alabama is believed to have originated from the Choctaw language and was later adopted by the Alabama tribe as their name. The word comes from the Choctaw words alba (meaning "plants" or "weeds") and amo (meaning "to cut", "to trim", or "to gather"). It may refer to the clearing of land for the purpose of planting crops or to the collection of medicinal plants by medicine men.

Where is Alabama located? It is in the southern region of the United States.

What other States does Alabama touch? ANSWER: Mississippi (West), Georgia (East), Tennessee (North), and Florida (South).

Alabama is unofficially nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, which is also the name of the state bird. Alabama's official Mascot and State butterfly is the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie". The State tree is the Longleaf Pine, the State flower is the Camellia. Alabama's State fruit is the blackberry.

The State song is, "Alabama." Alabama's State Motto is, "We Dare Maintain Our Rights."

A complete list of Alabama symbols and emblems can be found here.

The capital of Alabama is Montgomery, and the largest city by population is Birmingham. The largest city by total land area is Huntsville. The oldest European settler (French) founded city is Mobile (1702). The people who were already living in the area that became Alabama when European settlers arrived were the Alabama (Alibamu), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Koasati, and Mobile.

Alabama's main industries today are aerospace, agriculture, education, health care, banking, automobile manufacturing, mineral extraction, steel production and fabrication. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center/U.S. Space Camp is located in Huntsville. Alabama's early industry was heavily based on agriculture (growing cotton, for example) and depended on slavery. All the slaves were freed by 1865. One hundred years later, the Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement.

In 1861 Alabama declared its secession from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. While few battles were fought in the state, Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the Civil War. Following Reconstruction, Alabama was restored to the Union in 1868.

Summers in Alabama are among the hottest in the United States and southern Alabama reports more thunderstorms than any part of the U.S. Winters are generally mild.

Famous people from Alabama include Hank Aaron, Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Barkley, Hugo L. Black, Paul W. (Bear) Bryant, Jimmy Buffett, Bo Bice, George Washington Carver, Nat King Cole, Courteney Cox Arquette, Zelda Fitzgerald, William C. Handy, Taylor Hicks, Bo Jackson, Kate Jackson, Helen Keller, Coretta Scott King, Harper Lee, Joe Louis, Willie Mays, Jim Nabors, Randy Owen, Jesse Owens, Satchel Paige, Rosa Parks, Wilson Pickett, Condoleezza Rice, Lionel Richie, Bart Starr, Ruben Studdard, George Wallace, Booker T. Washington, and Hank Williams.

If you are planning to visit Alabama, a good place to start looking for information would be Alabama's official tourism website. The Encyclopedia of Alabama is also a very large resource for information on the State.

Other fun things to do and interesting things to learn about Alabama can be found at these places:

EnchantedLearning.com has many resources and fun activities (including printables) on the State of Alabama. Fun for kids and a fantastic resource for parents and teachers.

Happy 4th of July! (MASSIVE LINKS HERE)

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, starting the 13 colonies on the road to becoming their own country, independent from England. If you are an American citizen or you live in the United States, you are very lucky because we are a great country that loves freedom very much. In this country, you can dream any dream of what you want to be and you can work toward making that dream come true.

I have collected a lot of great stuff for you to look at, learn from, enjoy, play with and just have fun and it all has to do with the 4th of July and/or our great country. Pick a place that you would like to visit from the menu list below. That webpage should open up in a new window.

SECURITY NOTE FOR BOTH KIDS AND ADULTS: Almost ALL websites use some kind of advertising or they ask for donations. You will probably see that at many of the links I provide here. That's not necessarily something bad but I think it's fair to tell you it will be there. KIDS, you must NEVER give your email address or any other personal information about yourself to any website without telling your parents FIRST that's what you want to do. That's also true if a website says you can download something to your computer (yes, even if it's for free). NEVER DOWNLOAD ANYTHING TO YOUR COMPUTER without telling your parents first that's what you want to do.