Monthly Archives: June 2014
HISTORIC BAD IDEA: BIG TUG-OF-WAR
When trying for the record for the world’s biggest tug-of-war, it’s a good idea to use a durable rope. When students and teachers at a middle school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania made a bid for the title on June 13th, 1978, they used a 2,000 foot long, 1½ inch thick nylon rope. Not surprisingly, it broke, […]
HISTORIC 70th ANNIVERSARY: D-DAY
Today is the seventieth anniversary of D-Day. Although ‘D-Day’ was originally only used as a generic cover name for whatever day a secret military operation was scheduled to begin, the term is now generally associated with the Invasion of Normandy (officially: Operation Overlord). On June 6th, 1944, 156,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of […]
FAMILY HISTORY: HISTORIC FAMILY FIRSTS
History isn’t confined to the famous. Families have their own historic moments and on June 4th, 1974, my parents welcomed their first grandchild (he was a lowly second on the other side). Challenge your kids to find some of your family’s historic firsts. Or, if you’re a teacher, challenge the kids to find some of […]
HISTORIC CELEBRATION: SHAVUOT
Originally a Jewish harvest festival, Shavuot takes place fifty days after the second day of Passover. A one-day festival in Israel, and two days in other places, Shavuot now also serves to commemorate the gift of the Torah, or God’s Law, which was revealed to Moses and written down in the first five books of […]
Time Travelling With Kids 