Monthly Archives: February 2015
HISTORY FOOD: CUPCAKES
Today is the day people can support their local SPCA and Humane Societies by purchasing cupcakes. There are two theories as to how cupcakes came to be called cupcakes. One is that, back when people first started measuring out baking ingredients instead of weighing them, the original ingredients for these little cakes were a cup […]
HISTORY LURE: JIGSAW PUZZLES
Kids who like doing puzzles might like history too if they get to put together a picture of it. From a 12-piece dinosaur puzzle or 30-piece pirate ship puzzle to a 500-piece medieval castle or 1,000-piece Viking village, historic jigsaw puzzle recreations can be found in most quality toy shops. And the time spent making […]
TRIVIA TRAIL: SNOWSHOES
Question: True Or False: Snowshoes were first used by Native Americans and New World settlers back in Pioneer Days. Answer: False. Snowshoes have been around a LOT longer than that. Primitive snowshoes made of flat leather or blocks of wood were in use in Central Asia between 4000 and 6000 BCE. Native Americans did perfect […]
HISTORIC COIN: LINCOLN PENNY
Unlike today, the first coins minted in the United States of American did not feature presidents. Not wanting to emulate the British tradition of having kings on coins, its founding fathers preferred to use symbols of liberty. This prevailed until one president, Abraham Lincoln, came to be viewed as a symbol of liberty. The first […]
HISTORIC TAKE-OVER: HENRY VIII
Despite some opposition (especially from Pope Clement VII ) King Henry VIII was recognized as the Supreme Head of the Church of England on February 11th, 1531, a position the current monarch still holds.
Time Travelling With Kids 
TRIVIA TRAIL: THAT FAMOUS OLD STORY OPENING
Question: Did the clichéd old story opening, “It was a dark and stormy night”, ever actually appear in a book? Answer: Yes. The 1830 novel Paul Clifford by the Victorian aristocrat, Baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Though now mostly forgotten, Lord Lytton wrote prolifically and was, in his day, almost as widely read as Charles Dickens. Like […]