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FROM THE EDITOR
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September marks the end of summer...so...what better time for festivals and special events? Here are a few to keep in mind:
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, gives Americans the last national holiday of summer. In China, the annual Xi'an Festival - celebrating ancient culture and the amazing terra cotta soldiers - runs the whole month. In Scotland, " TechFest in September" offers an array of fun activities.
September is also a time when people throughout the world reflect on disasters. From many of those tragedies, however, flow positive legacies. Take London, for example.
Before the 2nd of September, 1666, St. Paul's Cathedral dominated London's landscape. Then the Great Fire started in a Pudding Lane bakery shop, raging out of control for days. It charred nearly 400 acres within the city's walls (and another 63 outside them) and destroyed about 13,000 homes. Old St. Paul's was a victim.
Although the city was devastated, and about 250,000 people became homeless, the fire had a positive legacy. It led to improved building designs, fire insurance and better firefighting techniques. Other events, like the Great Hurricane of 1900 - still the worst natural disaster to befall America - have equally positive legacies. Galveston - literally swallowed by the sea during the hurricane - ultimately led to better weather warnings, and predictions, even before the computer-age. And Steve Biko, a South African activist who died in police custody on the 12th of September, 1977, is still remembered for drawing international attention to South African apartheid.
September, thus, is a time of celebrating festivals and remembering significant world events. Let's take a look at some of the stories we are featuring this month.
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IN THE NEWS
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A new film about World War II - Inglourious Basterds - remains strong at the box office. Quentin Tarantino's take on Hitler's demise, and the end of the Third Reich, may seem like a fanciful tale... largely imagined out of whole cloth. But if one looks deeper, into the primary sources of history, it's surprising how many parallels to the fictional story one can find. FOLLOW AWESOME STORIES ON TWITTER
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SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
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In early 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. That directive allowed government officials to exclude ethnic Japanese, living in certain states, from their towns, their homes, their businesses. The Secretary of War and his advisors had to determine where the excluded people would live. Camps (variously referred to as internment, detention and concentration) were hastily built as Japanese-American citizens, and Japanese resident-aliens, were told to start packing their bags and closing their businesses. On the first of September, 1942, a California federal judge ruled that the process was legal. HITLER INVADES POLAND Seventy years ago this month, World War II began when Hitler invaded Poland on the 1st of September, 1939. These newsreels feature historical footage recorded by both sides of the conflict. BATTLE OF STALINGRAD
Three years after the invasion of Poland, Hitler sent his troops to the Soviet Union. On the 2nd of September, 1942, German troops entered Stalingrad. The deadliest battle of the war was about to begin.
This video, which is dubbed in English, tells the story from the Soviet perspective. It incorporates footage of battle scenes and other primary sources from the Russian State Archives.
The film (following the intro credits) begins at about 1:05 into the clip. JAPANESE SURRENDEROn the 2nd of September, 1945, Japanese representatives formally surrendered to the Allies aboard the USS Missouri, in Tokyo Bay. See what happened, with a video summary of events, and examine the actual documents which ended the Second World War. TERRA COTTA SOLDIERS
In the 3rd century B.C., a man named Ying Zheng was consolidating his power in China. Before Ying Zheng became ruler of the state of "Qin" (also called "Ch'in"), China's seven "states" had never been unified. Significant changes were in store for the country, and for its people.
Ying Zheng ultimately took a new name and became the First Emperor of China. To protect their ruler after his death, about 700,000 workers, over 36 years, constructed a mausoleum and created thousands of life-size terra cotta soldiers. Those soldiers - created to stand guard over their Emperor - are often called the 8th Wonder of the World.
China, and visitors from all over the world, celebrate this marvel during the September festival. This story, with text and video, provides background for the First Emperor, the Great Wall and the terra cotta soldiers.
Frederick Douglass, the American abolitionist, was born a slave. On the 3rd of September, 1838, he disguised himself as a sailor and escaped to freedom. In My Bondage and My Freedom, featured in this story, he tells us how he made (and executed) his plan of escape. He experienced more than a few harried moments! BEATRIX POTTER and the STORY OF PETER RABBIT
Noel Moore wasn't feeling well on the 4th of September, 1893. Trying to cheer-up the son of her former governess, Beatrix Potter sent Noel an illustrated letter telling the story of a mischievous bunny called Peter. Take a look at the original letter and learn the story behind the creation of Miss Potter's still-popular "little books." (Our story - in chapter 8 - includes links to animations of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny).
THE STORY OF JESSE JAMES
Still the subject of stories and movies, Jesse James grew up in Missouri - a state impacted by the famous Missouri Compromise. Born on the 5th of September, 1847, Jesse and his brother became outlaws after the American Civil War. This story provides a brief biography of his life and times.
MURDER AT THE FAIR - DEATH OF PRESIDENT McKINLEY
On the 6th of September, 1901, William McKinley - then president of the United States - was visiting the Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York. An assassin, armed with a .32 caliber short-barreled Johnson revolver, fired two shots directly at McKinley. One of the bullets entered the president's stomach.
Nearby, a new invention - the X-ray machine - was on display. If attending doctors had known how to use it, they could have found the bullet and McKinley would likely have survived. But no one did and, after suffering for a week, the president died. Twelve hours later, Theodore Roosevelt was sworn-in as the country's chief executive.
The day on which McKinley was shot - September 6th - has been called one of "10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America." The reason? It was the new president, with his new vision, who guided the country into the Twentieth Century.
THE GREAT HURRICANE OF 1900
It was the peak of hurricane season - September 8, 1900. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico were hot - just the kind of hot a tropical storm needs to grow into a hurricane. A storm that began in late August near the Cape Verde Islands, off Africa's west coast, had reached Cuba by September 5th. In the days of primitive weather instruments, meteorologists on the island had developed an amazing ability to forecast major storms. They predicted this tropical storm would intensify when it left Cuba. And they believed it would do something else: continue on its westward path toward Texas.
Those Cuban forecasters were right, but forecasters in America disagreed. People in the direct path of the "Great Storm of 1900" received no warnings that their lives and property were in grave danger. When the storm reached Galveston, an island off the Texas shore, it temporarily buried the town and its inhabitants with sea water. At least 8,000 people died within a few hours. In this story...Learn how hurricanes form and how one of them caused the worst natural disaster in America's history.
SEPTEMBER 11
On the 11th of September, 2001, America was attacked when hijackers took control of four jetliners. Three planes were intentionally flown into buildings while a fourth (United Airlines Flight 93) crashed in a Pennsylvania field. It is believed a total of 3,030 victims died that day. Many bodies were never found or could not be identified.
To assist educators wishing to commemorate 9/11 with their class, we have prepared a new lesson plan to accompany the story.
September 11 also marks the day (in 1973) when a democratically elected president - Salvador Allende of Chile - was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup led by General Augusto Pinochet. That event was traumatic for the country and its impact, on Chile, is still being assessed.
Old Doc Beanes was missing. Well, not exactly missing. Everyone in Georgetown knew where the much-loved doctor was. It's just that his neighbors and patients couldn't get to him. He had been captured by the British during the War of 1812. And...because he was captured...someone needed to negotiate his release. The job fell to a lawyer named Francis Scott Key. Learn how Key was in the right place (near Fort McHenry), at the right time (September 14, 1814), when it came to writing "The Star-Spangled Banner."
On the 16th of September, 1620, a ship named Mayflower left the British port of Southampton. According to its ship's log, the captain "Laid course W.S.W. for northern coasts of Virginia." Aboard the ship were people seeking a new life in America. Their late-season departure insured they would encounter bad weather en route. What had caused their delay? Who were the people aboard the ship? And...why were they leaving in the first place?
CONSTITUTION DAY
After the American colonies won their independence from Great Britain, the country's founding fathers had to determine a rational form of government. When Articles of Confederation proved too weak, delegates gathered in Philadelphia to discuss a new constitution. After much debate, a document was signed - on the 17th of September, 1787 - without a Bill of Rights. (Those amendments were added two years later.) In this story, step back in time to learn how things happened. OETZI THE ICE MANOn the 19th of September, 1991, Helmut and Erica Simon were hiking on a glacier near the Italian-Austrian border when they made a stunning discovery. They found a well-preserved, prehistoric mummy - known today as "Oetzi the Iceman" - who lived more than 5,000 years ago. In this story, you can see his remains and learn what likely happened to him. With today's forensic tools, investigators could even determine what Oetzi had eaten not long before he died. DEATH OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD
After President James Garfield was shot, on the 2nd of July, 1881, doctors could not find the bullet. If modern equipment had been available then, perhaps the president could have lived. But unsterile conditions, and doctors with unwashed hands, made Garfield's condition worse. He died on the 19th of September, after suffering 2½ months.
On the 26th of September, 1960, presidential politics in America changed when candidates debated - on television - for the first time. These videos depict the contrast in style between the nominees - John F. Kennedy (Democratic nominee) and Richard M. Nixon (Republican nominee).
WHO WAS BENEDICT ARNOLD?
In American-English, the word "Benedict Arnold" means "traitor." Why? Who was this person whose name has become synonymous with "turn-coat?"
At the beginning of September, 1780, Benedict Arnold was a Major General in the Continental Army. His assignment? The command of West Point, a strategically important American fort on the Hudson River.
By the end of the month, he was a traitor who had tried to sell out his country, his fort and his men. His price? Twenty-thousand pounds sterling (worth about $1 million today).
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