Radio show was broadcasted for the first time in 1910. Lee Deforest arranged for Enrico Caruso and other celebrities to perform the opera Cavellaria rusticana at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Only a few people owned the necessary equipment to receive the performance, but it did mark the beginning of radio communication.
First transcontinental telephone call by Bell and Watson occurred in 1915. The famous duo of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson made history again. Watson was in San Francisco, California, when Bell called him from New York, New York. President Woodrow Wilson and the mayors of both cities were also part of the call. Bell’s first call to Watson (who was in another room in the same building) was on March 10, 1876.
Ballet was performed for the first time in America in 1827. The Bowery Theater in New York City hosted a performance of The Deserter by Madame Francisquy Hutin and her troupe. Idea: Invite a ballet student to visit the class and demonstrate some basic ballet moves.
George Washington
George Washington was inaugurated President of the United States in 1789 in New York City. Idea: Present Presidents are inaugurated on January 20 in Washington, DC. Children could try to figure out why George Washington’s inauguration was in April (instead of January) and in New York City (instead of Washington, DC). They could also read a transcript of his speech at: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/inaugtxt.html.
Sally Jane Priesand became the first woman rabbi. She was ordained in 1972 and became assistant rabbi for a New York City congregation about two months later. She became the rabbi of a New Jersey congregation in 1981 and eventually retired in 2006. Today about 32 percent of rabbis are female.
Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, hung Matisse’s Le Bateau upside down in 1961. The mistake was not discovered until December 3, 1961.