It was the summer of 1890.  Vincent van Gogh had created nearly 80 paintings in less than three months.  With stunning brilliance, he could transform a dusty road into a place surrounded by beauty and color.  At the height of his genius, the prolific artist was despondent.  He couldn't sell a painting.  His brother, who supported him, was financially strapped.  Vincent decided he could no longer cope.

While the people of San Francisco slept, the ground below them was moving. At first, during the early hours of April 18, 1906, no one knew that something was awry. Then ... the rolling motions came, causing streets to rise, and fall, and rise again. It seemed, to one observer, that the earth itself was breathing.  What happened next, devastated the city and traumatized her citizens.

On the 20th of January, 2009, Barack Obama became America's 44th President.  In his inaugural address, he noted that his "father, less than 60 years ago, might not have been served at a local restaurant."  Why would the President's father have been treated that way?  Because American law discriminated against people of color.  This is a story about how that legal system - called "Jim Crow Laws" - developed.

Towering over the French town of Chartres, a medieval church keeps watch over the neighborhood. Among its many attributes are flying buttresses and stunningly beautiful stained-glass windows.  In this story, take a virtual journey to view Chartres, explore other examples of stained-glass treasures and learn how medieval people actually made their glass.  (Hint:  Think beechwood ashes.)

During America's civil war, captured Union soldiers were allowed to "play ball" inside the walls of their prison camp at Salisbury, North Carolina. By that time, baseball was becoming an important sport in the country.  After the war, its popularity spread even more as soldiers returned home and taught their friends and family how to play.  In 1887, a set of baseball cards - "World’s Champions" - began a tradition which continues to this day.