Mark Twain (born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835) is one of America’s greatest authors and humorists. He was celebrated in his time, and despite being frequently banned, is still read on campuses today. Of “The Adventures of Huckleberry …[Continue]
Pilgrims of Plymouth
The Pilgrims were a English Separatist congregation that emigrated to Holland in 1608 to escape religious persecution. Twelve years later, discouraged by economic conditions, the congregation voted to move again, this time to America. A small ship, the Speedwell, carried …[Continue]
Wright Brothers
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the world’s first flight in a power-driven, heavier-than-air machine that cost about $1000 to build. With Orville at the controls and Wilbur on the ground, the plane flew 120 feet in twelve …[Continue]
Star-Spangled Banner
“Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light / What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? / Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, / O’er the ramparts we watched were so …[Continue]
Thirteen Colonies
The American colonial period began in 1607 with the arrival of settlers in Jamestown, Virginia, and ended in 1775 when the Revolutionary War began. Although the English were not the first Europeans to arrive in the New World, they eventually …[Continue]
Father’s Day Cards
Father’s Day is a fairly new holiday, and wasn’t given national recognition until President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance on the third Sunday in June. Father’s Day was originally conceived in 1909 by Sonara Smart Dodd, who was …[Continue]
Earth Day
Since its inception in 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated annually on April 22. Although ideally every day should be Earth Day, the annual holiday presents the perfect opportunity to learn more about earth science, ecology, and the environment….[Continue]
Easter Crafts
Spring has sprung. Easter is around the corner. And bunnies, baskets and eggs are cropping up everywhere! In celebration, here’s a round-up of Easter craft sites that go above and beyond the usual egg dying projects. Happy Easter!…[Continue]
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein, known as one of the greatest scientists of all time, was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. The following sites explore his life and his work. I was struck by how accessible Einstein’s theories can be …[Continue]
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony (1820-1906) was a tireless leader of the women’s rights movement, fighting over fifty years for women’s suffrage (the right to vote), equal education, property rights and even dress reform. In 1851, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who …[Continue]