Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was the nation’s capital for this day only in 1777. The prior capital was Philadelphia, and the next capital was York, Pennsylvania. Children can view the list of the sites of the nation’s capitals at: Capitals List.
Rosetta Stone
Courtesy of Hans Hillewaert
Jean-Francois Champollion declared in 1822 that he had deciphered the Rosetta Stone. The monument contained the same speech in three languages. He was able to translate the speech in two of the languages, and he used patterns and syntax to decode the Egyptian hieroglyphics, the third language. The Rosetta Stone is housed in the British Museum. Children could learn about the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian hieroglyphics at: Rosetta Stone.
Matchbook Patent
Matchbooks were patented in 1892 by Joshua Pusey of Lima, Pennsylvania. He received patent number 483,166. Children can view the patent at: Matchbook Patent.
Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was first published in 1962. It helped create an awareness of earth’s fragility and pollution’s hazards. Carson stressed the negative environmental consequences of pesticides. Older children can learn more at: Silent Spring.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998. Now the company processes about one billion searches a day.
Spacecraft Dawn was launched by NASA in 2007. Its mission was to explore Vesta and Ceres, the two largest extraterrestrial bodies in the Asteroid Belt. Dawn began orbiting around Vesta on July 16, 2011, and sent back data. It left Vesta on September 5, 2012, and it reached Ceres on March 6, 2015. It currently remains in orbit around Ceres. Children can learn more at: Spacecraft Dawn.
Samuel Adams (born Boston, Massachusetts, 1722; died Boston, Massachusetts, October 2, 1803) was a leader during the American Revolution. He attended the First and Second Continental Congresses. He signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. Older children could learn more at Samuel Adams. Upper elementary students may want to read Jean Fritz’s Why Don’t You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?
Paul Goble (born Haslemere, England, 1933; died Rapid City, South Dakota, January 5, 2017) was an author and illustrator of children’s books. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses received the Caldecott Medal in 1978.
G. Brian Karas (born Milford, Connecticut, 1957) writes and illustrates book for children. His works include The Windy Day and I Know an Old Lady. Children can visit his website at: G. Brian Karas.
Nicholas Mordvinoff (born Saint Petersburg, Russia, 1911; died Hampton, New Jersey, May 5, 1973) was an artist. He earned a 1951 Caldecott Honor Award for The Two Reds. Then he received the 1952 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in Finders Keepers.
Thomas Nast (born Landau, Germany, 1840; died Guayaquil, Ecuador, December 7, 1902) was a political cartoonist. He created the symbols of the donkey and the elephant for the two political parties. Children can view some of his political cartoons at: Thomas Nast.
Bernard Waber (born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1924; died Long Island, New York, May 16, 2013) wrote and illustrated 33 books for children. He wrote among other works Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and The House on East 88th Street. Children can learn more at: Bernard Waber.
William the Conqueror arrived in England in 1066. The Duke of Normandy was expanding his realm. Born in France, he was the first Norman king of England, ruling from 1066 to his death in 1087.
Battle of Yorktown commenced in 1781. George Washington and 17,000 American and French troops laid siege against General Cornwallis and 9,000 British soldiers in Yorktown at the mouth of the Chesapeake. French ships cut off his retreat into the bay. Cornwallis surrendered three weeks later on October 17, 1781. Yorktown was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Children could learn more at: Battle of Yorktown.
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, somewhat by accident, in 1928. He had been researching effective germ killers when he noticed that a discarded petri dish containing penicillin was killing staph bacteria. He conducted further research and discovered the amazing strength of penicillin. However, he could not figure out how to mass produce penicillin. Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, however, solved that problem. All three shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1945. They have saved millions of lives.