John Glenn

In was on this date, in the year of our Lord 1962, that the first American astronaut, John Glenn, orbited the earth.
The word astronaut is a compilation of two Greek words, astro- + nautes which literally means, "space sailor."

Birthday

On this date, in the year of our Lord 1473, Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun,Poland. In Polish, his name was Mikolaj Kpernik.

It was he who developed the theory that the earth is a moving planet. As a result, he is considered the founder of present-day astronomy. Copernicus skillfully applied his new idea in his masterpiece, Concerning the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (1543). Copernicus' theory also laid the foundations for the telescopic discoveries of Galileo, the planetary laws of Johannes Kepler, and the gravitation principle of Sir Isaac Newton.

Iwo Jima

On this date, in the year of our Lord 1945, is when the U.S. flag was raised at Iwo Jima. I would suggest reading the book and/or watching the movie Flags of Our Fathers. The taking of the island of Iwo Jima was considered the turning point in the battle of the Pacific Theater.

Christiantiy in Rome A.D. 54-68

Roman rulers initially tolerated the Christian religion as long as they believed it did not challenge the authority of the State. In time; however, this new faith came to be seen as an enemy of the Empire because of Christians' sole allegiance to the Triune God of the Bible and His Law. Pledging allegiance to the God of the Bible instead of to Rome was considered blasphemy.

Emperor Nero (A.D. 54-68) instituted the first full-scale persecution of Christians in A.D. 64. He tortured some followers of Christ by covering them with animal skins and throwing them to packs of savage dogs. Other believers were doused with oil or dipped in tar, suspended on poles, and burned to serve as nightly illumination for Nero's garden parties.

Noah Webster's Spelling Book

The following is a page from Webster's Spelling Book, where in Table XV he told the History of the Creation of the World...

"In six days God made the world, and all things that are in it. He made the sun to shine by day, and the moon to give light by night. He made all the beasts that walk on the earth, all the birds that fly in the air, and all the fish that swim in the sea. Each herb, and plant, and tree, is the work of His hands. All things, both great and small, that live, and move, and breathe in this wide world, to Him do owe their birth, to Him their life. And God saw that all the things He made were good. But as yet there was not a man to till the ground: so God made man of the dust of the earth, and gave him rule over all that He had made. And the man gave names to all the beasts of the field; the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea. But there was not found a helpmeet for man; so God brought on him a deep sleep, and then took from his side a rib, of which He made a wife, and her to the man, and her name was Eve: And from these two came all the sons of man."

This little book made its appearance in October of 1785, in the blue cloth cover, which it wore forever after. It cost the equivalent of 30 cents. The Speller went west in covered wagons, crossed rivers and mountains, stood on a special shelf with the Bible and almanack in country homes; becoming the backbone of American education. In the course of Noah
Webster's lifetime nearly 25,000,000 copies were sold. After he died it continued to sell up to a total of 100,000,000 copies. Probably no book, excepting the Bible, has had a better sale over a period of years.

The President's Cabinet

In 1789, when the Constitution went into effect, Congress passed laws creating the first three executive departments of the new government: Foreign Affairs, Treasury, and War. The head of each department was to be called the "Secretary."
The word "cabinet" came from England, where a private meeting room was often called a cabinet. James Madison, our fourth president,was the first to use this word to refer to the President's advisors.
At first, George Washington consulted with his Cabinet members one at a time, occasionally asking for written opinions. But soon they all met together regularly, in Washington's home on Cherry Street in Philadelphia [then the capital of the United States].
Today, the Cabinet members meet weekly around a big mahogany table in the Cabinet Room next to the President's Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House.
Whenever a member of the Cabinet leaves office the Secretary is traditionally given the leather Cabinet chair, with its brass nameplate on the back, as a memento of service. Members of the Department buy the chair for the outgoing Secretary as a parting gift.

Historical Books of Worth - elementary level

There is a series of books which are worth the investment in order that your elementary-aged children may read historically correct literature. These books first went into print in the 1950's, including both biographies as well as specific historical events. They are - Landmark Books. Whether with or without a dust jacket, you will see the logo at the bottom of the spine, Landmark Books over the outline of the Washington Monument. This series of books is superlatively well done and can play a large role in creating enthusiasm among young readers. (Plus, these provide a quick reference for the Instructor.)

Keeping the Lord's Day Holy

A South Carolina law of 1691 which called for a better observance of the Lord's Day began by pointing out that"...there is nothing more acceptable to Almighty God that the true sincere performance of and obedience to the most divine service and worship...."
-Reformation to Colonization, p. 419

Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh loved a good smoke. In fact, he was instrumental in popularizing tobacco in England, even though Europe had already been introduced to tobacco (Spanish and French explorers had picked up the habit from pipe-smoking Indians). Legend goes that when Raleigh's servant first saw him puffing away, he thought that Raleigh was on fire and doused him thoroughly with water. Raleigh's name went down in history not only as the name of a city in North Carolina but as the name of a pipe tobacco.
-Reformation to Colonization (p. 242)

Inventor's Day

Today is, "Inventor's Day." Here's one inventor's story...

When Bill Black, an Austin-area barber, noticed how hair clippings, which fell onto plants near his barber chair, seemingly improved their growth, he did a little research. He learned that hair contained 18 % nitrogen. Further research, on the part of Black, uncovered that plant fertilizers are nitrogen based. Eureka! Those hair clippings he had been throwing into the trash now became the foundation for FertHairLizer -a plant fertilizer product that still being sold today.
(Texas Trivia - Weird,Wacky, and Wild by Prosapio & Wojna)

What's lying on your floor?

Literature and a Nation

"Literature is the living memory of a nation. It preserves and kindles within itself the flame of a country's spend history, in a form that is safe from distortion and slander. In this way, literature, together with language, protects the soul of a nation."
-Alexander Solzhenitsyn