Monthly Archives: November 2014
HISTORIC CELEBRATION: ADVENT
Advent has begun. https://kids.kiddle.co/Advent Some online Advent calendars can be found at: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-free-online-advent-calendars-with-gifts-surprises-for-you-the-kids/
HISTORY TIDBIT: COMPULSORY SCHOOLING
Whether they love it, hate it, or are indifferent towards it, kids have to go school, be it a regular school or home-based. Education of the young is not compulsory everywhere, but most countries require it, and, at least at the lower levels, provide it for free. Even in the 1860s, the British Parliament allocated […]
HAPPY AMERICAN THANKSGIVING 2014
For some nostalgic pictures from the Digital Public Library of America, visit: http://dp.la/search?&q=thanksgiving&type%5B%5D=image&utf8=%E2%9C%93
TRIVIA TRAIL: THE REAL WINNIE THE POOH
Question: Was Winnie the Pooh a real teddy bear? Answer: Yes. He belonged to Christopher Robin Milne, son of writer and poet A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne. And his name came from the black bear young Christopher used to like to visit at London Zoo. Orphaned as a cub, the bear had been rescued by […]
HISTORY TIDBIT: THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE
Though the Macy’s Parade in New York might be the best known (even non-Americans have heard of it), it is not the oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade in the country. The first one was held in Philadelphia in 1920, and was sponsored by Gimbel’s Department Store.
HISTORIC STORM: BRITAIN’S GREAT STORM OF 1703
Great Britain has its share of violent storms. I took the above photo in Blackpool in what was about to become gale-force winds, but nowadays, people have some warning and are a bit prepared. On November 24th, 1703, however, no one was in the least prepared. A violent week-long squall hit Southern England, killing thousands […]
HISTORIC FIRST: FIRST SUCCESSFUL ORGAN TRANSPLANT
* Some of the transplant team with the donor and recipient. From left to right: Joseph E. Murray (surgeon), Richard Herrick (recipient), John P. Merrill (nephrologist), Ronald Herrick (donor) and J. Hartwell Harrison (surgeon). On December 23rd, 1954, a healthy kidney was removed from twenty-three-year-old Ronald Herrick and placed in his identical twin brother, Richard […]
HISTORY TIDBIT: PICTURE BOOKS
To quote little Alice of Alice In Wonderland fame, “What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?” November is Picture Book Month, and the ones above were five of my favourites when I was a child. (Yes, I still have them.) The earliest picture book for children was Orbis Sensualium Pictus (Translation: The […]
MAKING HISTORY FUN: HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS BIRTHDAY HUNT
Birthdays are a time when kids can look up what was going on in the world when they first arrived in it or find out if anything of historic importance took place on the same date, albeit a different year. Some will fare better than others in this regard. A few famous people were born […]
Time Travelling With Kids 