The Freedom Riders were approximately 400 black and white Americans who (at great personal risk) traveled on buses through the Deep South in violation of Jim Crow segregation laws, for six months starting May 4, 1961. Along the way, they …[Continue]
Thomas Jefferson
Born on April 13, 1743, Thomas Jefferson is best remembered as the author of the Declaration of Independence. But Jefferson’s interests and talents covered an amazing range. He was also a two-term president, diplomat, architect, violinist, inventor and a founder …[Continue]
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was born March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. March is also the anniversary of his most famous invention: the telephone. In 1875, after receiving a patent for the transmission of multiple telegraph signals on a single wire, …[Continue]
Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month traces its beginnings to the first International Women’s Day, held on March 8, 1911 in Copenhagen, spearheaded by Clara Zetkin, a German political leader. In 1981, responding to the growing popularity of the event in schools across …[Continue]
The Alamo
The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas is a former mission and fortress, built by the Spanish Empire in the 18th century. In 1835, during the Texas Revolution, it was the scene of a pivotal battle for independence between the Republic …[Continue]
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American poet and short-story author, known as a master of the macabre, but also credited with pioneering work in the detective genre and science fiction. Born in Boston, MA, Poe was orphaned at an …[Continue]
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War when it was signed (in Paris) by King George III and representatives of the newly formed United States of America on September 3, 1783. The Confederation Congress ratified the treaty on …[Continue]
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Pearl Harbor Naval Station on the Hawaiian island of Oahu is Navy headquarters for the United States Pacific Fleet. Yet even after seventy-six years, its name is synonymous with the surprise Japanese attack of “December 7, 1941 – a …[Continue]
Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 5, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, supporters of the Civil Rights Movement began a thirteen-month boycott against the city’s bus system as a protest against its policies of racial segregation. The boycott was lead by Reverend Martin Luther King, …[Continue]
Veterans Day
In 1918, at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, fighting ceased in World War I. Formerly known as Armistice Day, Veterans Day (November 11) is a day to honor veterans living and dead who have …[Continue]
