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WHAT'S NEW / IN THE NEWS
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A new film - The Descendants - based on the best-selling book by Kaui Hart Hemmings and starring George Clooney, has recently been released. Our story, behind the story, provides historical context and will soon be supported by a lesson plan and a Visual Vocabulary Builder.
THE GIRL with the DRAGON TATTOO
The "Hollywood version" of Stieg Larsson's popular book will be released later this month. Our story takes you into Stieg Larsson's world as we examine the sources for his lead characters - Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander - and offer a virtual journey to key places in the story. We also provide a Visual Vocabulary Builder as a companion to the story.
OTHER NEW STORIES set for UPCOMING RELEASE
In addition to the above, we will soon release the following new stories. NOTE that the links will not be active until the stories are online - before then, you will land on the "whoops" page: We may also release a story behind Midnight in Paris, if we get enough requests for it. Use the "contact us" page to let us know.
With the guidance of Professor Sandie Linn, from San Diego, we are creating a new feature at Awesome Stories. Check out our Visual Vocabulary Builder which currently supports twelve stories (with 120 words/pictures).
At the request of countless educators, our team continues to upload new video clips every day. Some of those newly added clips are December features, described below.
Because it's much easier to share our newsletters with a stand-alone URL (rather than as an email), we have created a separate URL for this month's edition. We will activate the link, reflected above, soon after the email version is sent.
The new season of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” takes us back to the days of Prohibition. Atlantic City was a booming town then, and people regularly disregarded the law (including a ban on alcoholic beverages). Based on historical (and fictional) characters, the series attempts to dramatize what life was like at the time. We provide background on the time and the people, including:
AWESOME STORIES ... IN THE NEWS
We are using Twitter, between monthly newsletters, to profile current and historical events. To stay on top of things, click the link above, sign up and off you go!
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SITE SIGNUP and LOGIN
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QUICK CLIPS from the VIDEO ARCHIVES |
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ROSA PARKS - REFUSES TO GIVE UP HER BUS SEAT
Rosa Parks - traveling home from work on a Montgomery, Alabama bus - refused to give up her seat to a white man on December 1, 1955. Called "the mother" of the modern-day civil rights movement, Mrs. Parks ushered in an era which changed America. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE - CROWNED EMPEROR OF FRANCE
On the 2nd of December, 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France. Who was he? What caused the people of France to give Napoleon such sweeping powers?
A professor at the University of Padua, Galileo substantially improved a new device - called the telescope - by the 3rd of December, 1621. What his technological achievement ultimately revealed to Galileo - and what he wrote about his beliefs - got him into serious trouble with the Catholic Church and its Inquisitor. Who was Galileo?
Five years after the people of Halifax buried so many of Titanic's victims, another ship caused a catastrophe in their own town. It remains Canada's worst man-made disaster. Learn what happened on December 6, 1917. DESTRUCTION of the BABRI MOSQUE
On the 6th of December, 1992, a rushing crowd of activists completely destroyed the Babri Mosque in northern India. This clip shows the crowd in action. Soon thereafter, anti-Muslim riots broke-out elsewhere in the country. Officials estimate that 2,000 people were killed, including some individuals in Dharavi. The event plays a key role in the film Slumdog Millionaire (for which we provide both a lesson plan and a Visual Vocabulary Builder). ATTACK on PEARL HARBOR - 70th ANNIVERSARY
On the 7th of December, 1941, the Japanese Empire launched a surprise attack on the United States. It was devastatingly effective and caused America to enter World War II. This year is the 70th anniversary.
The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, Americans received their up-to-date news from the radio. People everywhere were tuned-in to hear their President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, address a joint session of Congress. This clip is that address.
John Lennon was killed during the evening hours of December 8, 1980. Earlier in the day, he had given an interview about his current life and his hopes for the future. This clip features an excerpt from that interview, conducted by Dave Sholin (assisted by Laurie Kaye) on behalf of RKO Radio. Hours after John spoke these words, he was dead (at the age of 40).
ABDICATION of KING EDWARD VIII
On the 11th of December, 1936, King Edward VIII signed an Instrument of Abdication by which he gave up the British throne. A few hours later, he was introduced, on air, by the BBC's director general, Sir John Reith. The former king - whom Reith called "His Royal Highness the Prince Edward" - addressed the people of Britain and the various Dominions (then comprising about 25% of the world's population).
When Joseph Hayden - then Europe's most-famous composer - learned about Beethoven's talents, he invited Ludwig to become his pupil. Beethoven, at the age of 22, received his first lesson from Hayden on December 12, 1792. The two, however, did not always see eye-to-eye.
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG - DISASTER at MARYE'S HEIGHTS
During America's Civil War, General Burnside thought he could subdue Confederate forces during the battle for Fredericksburg, Virginia. Burnside was wrong, and his men - especially the Irish Brigade - sustained massive losses at Marye's Heights on the 13th of December, 1862.
Sitting Bull was known as Tatanka-Iyotanka in his own language. Famous for resisting westward expansion, he fought General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn. He was shot to death on the 15th of December, 1890.
OLIVER CROMWELL - BECOMES "LORD PROTECTOR"
On December 16, 1653, Oliver Cromwell became the "Lord Protector" of England, Scotland and Ireland. Who was Cromwell? How could this non-royal garner so much power after the British Parliament had executed the country's king - Charles I?
EINSTEIN - PUBLISHES HIS "GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY"
Albert Einstein was working as a patent clerk when, in 1905, he published his "Special Theory of Relativity." At the time he wrote his paper, he was the only person in the world who believed what he had discovered.
On the 16th of December, more than 250,000 German troops commenced a surprise attack on the Allies. Known as the Ardennes Offensive, Hitler's plan was to force the bulk of America's forces in Europe - more than 500,000 men who thought no major action would occur until an invasion of Germany in the spring - into a trap from which they could not escape. Hitler, however, was ultimately proven wrong.
WRIGHT BROTHERS - FIRST POWERED FLIGHT
On the 17th of December, 1903, the Wright Brothers did a remarkable thing. For the first time, in the history of the world, they flew an engine-powered airplane. This clip, from a NASA-produced video, shows how it happened.
WRIGHT BROTHERS - RECREATING HOW THEY DID IT
In this video clip, from "The Wright Brothers' Flying Machine," we retrace the Wright Brothers' steps during their journey of invention. We can even hear the sound of an original Wright Brothers’ engine which powered one of their planes.
After signing a peace treaty with Saladin, to end the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart was returning to England when he was captured by Leopold V of Austria - on the 20th of December, 1192. Who was this famous king?
VINCENT van GOGH - HARMS HIS EAR
The brilliant Dutch artist, Vincent van Gogh, suffered from periods of intense psychological turmoil. Scholars also think he may have had Meniere's Disease which impacts a person's inner ear and sense of balance. During one particularly painful period - on the 23rd of December, 1888 - van Gogh damaged the lower part of his left ear. In this clip, from Lust for Life, Kirk Douglas recreates that episode.
GEORGE WASHINGTON CROSSES the DELAWARE
About a week after the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the colonies, King George III sent a huge fleet of war ships to New York Harbor. Dark days followed for the Americans as their commander, George Washington, lost battle after battle. A CHRISTMAS CAROL - by CHARLES DICKENS
To provide for his growing family, Charles Dickens wrote his novella - A Christmas Carol - over a three-week period in 1843. It was published, to great acclaim, just before Christmas that year.
CHRISTMAS DAY - FALL OF BERLIN WALL CONCERT
It is said that when Beethoven's Ninth Symphony premiered in Vienna (on the 7th of May, 1824), the deaf maestro kept conducting even after the audience was cheering and applauding. Beethoven did not understand the profound impact of his new work until one of the soloists turned him around, to face the crowd.
In the 12th century, the King of England was vexed by Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the presence of English Barons, Henry II cried out: "Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?"
Gregory Rasputin, greatly despised by many members of Russia's aristocracy, was shot by Felix Yussopov (on the 29th of December, 1916 - using the "new school" date) after a great deal of cyanide-laced wine failed to kill him. Shortly before his death, Rasputin had made an eerie prediction to Tsar Nicholas II. What was it?
For so long, Irishmen tried to rid themselves of British control. No one could have ever conceived that the Irish people would fight against themselves in a civil war over a disagreement involving Britain. That is what happened, however, when - in December of 1921 - an Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed. At issue, before the Irish Parliament, was whether to ratify a document which relinquished part of their country to British control. |
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DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS |
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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.
THE HUBBLE TELESCOPE GETS "GLASSES"
For many 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 were aghast to realize the telescope had blurred vision. Astronauts, aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, effectively fitted the telescope with "glasses" during December of 1993.
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. LOUIS XVI - CHARGED WITH TREASON On the 11th of December, 1792, the King of France - Louis XVI - was charged with treason. He had earlier predicted something like this would occur, having studied what happened to Charles I of Britain (who'd lost his head). Louis told Marie Antoinette, his wife, that he would handle the situation with dignity. He was executed, by guillotine, the following month.
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 herein is a picture of some of the recovered tea.
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 powered-fliers.
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?
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."
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?
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SEARCHING AwesomeStories
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The site has a blazing-fast search for each database. Choose the one you need (images, videos, audio, etc.), and you will immediately get the "search" feature for that database. "Search," at the top right of the site, is for story text.
If it's on the site, you'll find it.
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS! |
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AwesomeStories
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Biographies
History
- American Colonies
- American Revolution - Highlights
- Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
- Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- Auschwitz: Place of Horrors
- Book Burning and Censorship
Disasters
- America Attacked: 9/11
- Black Death
- Challenger Disaster
- Columbia Space Shuttle Explosion
- Deepwater Horizon: Disaster in the Gulf
- Fatal Voyage: The Titanic
Philosophy
- Bagger Vance and the Bhagavad Gita
- Bonhoeffer: Martyr of Faith
- C.S. Lewis
- Dead Sea Scrolls
- Easter Story
- Freedom of Religion