BEOWULF
Sailing the short distance from Geatland to Denmark, the sixth-century warrior was sure he could help. His name was Beowulf. He would soon meet a monster - the "powerful demon" Grendel - who had terrorized the Danes for a dozen years.
The story of Beowulf and his exploits, told by long-ago poets, comes to us through a single manuscript written in Old English. Is the story true? Where (and when) was the manuscript written? And ... how could the story of Beowulf - about Scandinavian Geats, Danes and Swedes - become Britain's national epic?
A new film, based on the epic, is now playing in theaters. In our story, you will virtually visit the places where scholars believe the story originated, hear Seamus Heaney read passages from his award-winning translation and see an extended section of the actual tale performed in Old English.
ATTACK on PEARL HARBOR
As dawn lit the Hawaiian skies on December 7, 1941, Americans stationed at Pearl Harbor had no clue their world was about to explode. Pearl Harbor, the strategic Pacific base, was about to become the scene of unbelievable tragedy.
To the west of Hawaii, the Japanese fleet had maintained strict radio silence. Transmission fuses had even been removed from radios to make sure no messages could be intercepted. This was to be a surprise attack. Secrecy was paramount.
To the east, in Washington D.C., Japanese diplomats were told to delay their scheduled meeting with the American Secretary of State. Their government wanted to buy time as Imperial attack forces (including two-man midget submarines) prepared to wipe out America's Pacific Fleet.
The attack was well-planned and executed. As Americans reacted in horror, their president drafted a speech which contained one of his most-famous lines. But "day in infamy" was not President Roosevelt's first choice of words. To know what he originally said, you have to look at the surviving manuscript. It's linked in this story.
THE HUBBLE TELESCOPE GETS "GLASSES"
For nearly fifteen years, we have seen amazing pictures from space. The Hubble telescope (really a floating space observatory) is responsible for many of those images. But when scientists first analyzed Hubble's images, they realized the telescope had blurred vision. Astronauts, aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, effectively fitted the telescope with "glasses" during December of 1993.
THE BATTLE of FREDERICKSBURG
General Ambrose Burnside, in charge of Union forces during December of 1862, was on his way to Richmond, capital of the Confederate states. Before he could capture Richmond, however, he needed to secure Fredericksburg, a Virginia town.
In order to launch an offensive, federal troops had to cross the Rappahannock River. An advance contingent of Burnside's men arrived at Falmouth, across the river from Fredericksburg. The men had to create a pontoon bridge, to cross the river, but the parts had not arrived. It was just the first of many problems and mistakes which contributed to a major Confederate victory.
Take a virtual trip to America's national archives to learn more about this disastrous Union defeat.
BOSTON TEA PARTY
On the 16th of December, 1773, colonials disguised as Mohawks boarded British ships in Boston Harbor. They had one objective in mind - to dump all 342 containers of tea into the sea. The "Boston Tea Party" was just one incident in the run-up to war with the colonists' mother country. Linked in this story is a picture of some of the recovered tea.
FIRST POWERED FLIGHT
Ever since 1878, when their father brought home a toy helicopter powered by a rubber band, Wilbur and Orville Wright wanted to fly. On the 17th of December, 1903, these normally cautious, deliberative, methodical, bicycle-shop-owning brothers did something surprising. They disregarded every aspect of safety to become the world's first fliers.
The wind near the North Carolina coast was strong that morning - gusting between 20 and 30 miles per hour. The Wright brothers had lots of reasons to delay their flight. The wind chill over the ocean would be about 4 degrees Fahrenheit - pretty cold for someone flying unprotected. But the brothers succeeded where everyone before them had failed.
Learn their story to understand why aviation experts have observed: "Before the Wright Brothers, no one in aviation did anything fundamentally right. Since the Wright Brothers, no one has done anything fundamentally different."
WHO WAS ST. NICHOLAS?
For centuries people have asked: "Is there really a St. Nicholas?" This purveyor of holiday cheer, known as Santa Claus in America, comes in many different forms in many different countries. But as it happens, there really was a St. Nicholas. Born during the third century in the seaport town of Patara, on the Turkish coast, he led an amazing life. Although his parents were very wealthy, they died (most likely of plague) when Nicholas was still a boy.
So ... what is the story behind the legend?
THE STORY OF PETER PAN
When J.M. (James) Barrie first wrote the play we know as Peter Pan, he used a different working title: The Great White Father. After he read the first draft of his play to a friend, Herbert Tree, the reaction was not good. Sending an urgent message to Barrie's producer, Tree said: "Barrie has gone out of his mind...I am sorry to say it, but you ought to know it. He's just read me a play. He is going to read it to you, so I am warning you. I know I have not gone woozy in my mind, because I have tested myself since hearing the play; but Barrie must be mad."
When the play was first performed on December 27, 1904 - at London's Duke of York Theatre - the audience utterly stunned Nina Boucicault (in the title role) when she asked (at the end) whether they believed in fairies. Learn why in this story.
DEATH of RASPUTIN
Historians believed that Nicholas II made a lot of bad decisions when he was Tsar of all the Russians. But no decision was worse than allowing Rasputin to become a part of the royal family.
Who was Rasputin? Why did members of the royal family murder him on December 29, 1916? And what legendary prediction did Rasputin make before he died?
THE END of COMMODUS
History tells us that the Roman Emperor Commodus, featured in the film Gladiator, was a bad emperor. On New Year's Eve, in 192 A.D., he was murdered. Why did that happen? And ... what was life like in the empire at that time?
