Daylight Saving Time in the United States begins today at 2:00 AM. Everyone will move their clocks ahead one hour. Both sunrise and sundown will be an hour later than yesterday. Daylight Saving Time will end November 2, 2025, at 2:00 AM. Not every country has Daylight Saving Time, and those that do move clocks forward have their own dates. Children can learn which countries mark daylight saving time at: Countries.
Dentures were patented in the United States by Charles Graham of New York, New York, in 1822. False teeth had been around for centuries, but those dentures were made from human teeth or animal teeth. His dentures were made from porcelain and were harder and more durable. George Washington wore dentures. Children could find out how many sets of dentures George Washington had.
USS Monitor
Monitor and Merrimac, two ironclad ships, battled in 1862 during the Civil War. The Merrimac, a Confederate vessel, and the Monitor, a Union ship, exchanged fire. Both pulled away after about two hours. Neither ship was severely damaged. Children could learn more at: Monitor and Merrimac.
Barbie, the doll, celebrates her birthday today. She was created in 1959 by Ruth Handler after Ruth saw a doll with adult characteristics (as opposed to a baby doll) in Germany. She bought three dolls and brought them back to the United States. Changes were made to the doll, and the doll was named Barbie after Handler’s daughter. Around 350,000 thousand dolls were sold in the first year of production. Today over one billion dolls have been sold in 150 countries. Children can visit the Mattel site at: http://www.barbie.com/.
Sputnik 9, a Soviet spacecraft, ventured into space in 1961. Its passengers included a mannequin, a dog named Chernushka (Blackie), some mice, and a guinea pig. It made a single orbit before returning to earth. The mannequin was ejected prior to the landing to test an ejection seat.
Harry Bliss (born Rochester, New York, 1964) is a cartoonist and an illustrator of at least 20 children’s books. He illustrated Sharon Creech’s A Fine, Fine School and Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Worm.
Bobby Fischer (born Chicago, Illinois, 1943; died Reykjavik, Iceland, January 17, 2008) was a world chess champion from 1972 to 1975.
Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin (born Gzhatsk, Russia, 1934; died in a plane crash near Moscow, Russia, March 27, 1968) was a Soviet cosmonaut. He was the first man to travel in space. His spacecraft completed one complete orbit of the earth on April 12, 1961. He was instantly famous, and eventually he became involved in the training of other cosmonauts.
William Jackson (born Cumberland, England, 1759; died Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 17, 1828) fought in the Revolutionary War. However, he is most famous for serving as the secretary during the Constitutional Convention. He did not represent any of the thirteen states, but he kept minutes and maintained secrecy during the convention. He deserves more attention than he currently gets. Older children can learn more at: William Jackson.
Ellen Levine (born New York, New York, 1939; died New York, New York, May 26, 2012) wrote around 20 books for children. Her book Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories received a 2001 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award. She also wrote Henry’s Freedom Box. The illustrator, Kadir Nelson, received a 2008 Caldecott Honor Award for the artwork.
Amerigo Vespucci (born Florence, Italy, 1451; died Seville, Spain, February 22, 1512) was an Italian explorer. Even though Columbus reached the New World before Vespucci, the latter was the first to realize it was a new continent. Vespucci traveled at least twice to the New World around 1499 to 1502. Columbus continued to believe he had landed near India. Martin Waldseemuller, an early cartographer, named the new land America in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. Children could read Jean Fritz’s outstanding book, Around the World in a Hundred Years to learn more about Vespucci and Columbus.
Harriet Tubman Day is today! President George H. W. Bush proclaimed the day in 1990. Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, New York, on this day in 1913. Her exact date of birth is unknown. She was born around 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. A slave, she escaped to Philadelphia in 1849. She then became the most famous conductor for the Underground Railroad, probably saving about 900 people. During the Civil War, she acted as a spy and a scout. After the war, she cared for orphans and the aged. Children may want to read Before She Was Harriet, written by Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrated by James E Ransome. He received a 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award for the book. Children could also learn more about her life at: Harriet Tubman.
Daniel Boone
Painting by Chester Harding
Daniel Boone was hired in 1775 to cut the Wilderness Road. The road connected Virginia via the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky. The trail was rough and rocky; settlers walked the trail or rode horses. In 1790 the road was improved so that wagons could travel on it. Children can learn more about the Wilderness Road at: Daniel Boone.
Telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Bell’s first call was to Thomas Watson (who was in another room in the same building).His first telephone message was “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.” The famous duo of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson made history again when the first transcontinental telephone call occurred on January 25, 1915. 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 also investigated causes of deafness.
Rings around Uranus were discovered in 1977. James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Doulas J. Mink discovered the rings while they were using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. They actually discovered five rings by accident; they were trying to learn more about the atmosphere on Uranus. Some strange observations led them to the idea of rings. Today thirteen rings around Uranus have been documented. Children can learn more about Uranus, its rings, and its moons by visiting: Uranus and Rings.