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HAPPY SUMMER!
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FROM THE EDITOR
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On the 6th of December, 1907, the ground shook in Monongah, West Virginia. Working underground, in coal mines, 362 men and boys lost their lives when an explosion rocked mines 6 and 8 of the Consolidated Coal Company. The disaster remains the worst mining accident in American history.
To commemorate the lives of so many lost fathers, a celebration was held in the nearby town of Fairmont, West Virginia on the 5th of July, 1908. It is believed that Grace Golden Clayton suggested the event to her pastor, and the first known day recognizing fathers took place at William Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South (known today as Central United Methodist Church).
The following year, Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother's Day sermon when she wondered why people didn't celebrate Father's Day. After her mom's death, Sonora's dad - William Jackson Smart, a Civil-War veteran - had raised all of his children alone.
To show her gratitude, Sonora worked to have Father's Day celebrated during June - the month of William's birth. She was successful, and the event took place on the 19th of June, 1910. Fourteen years later, Father's Day had become so important in America that President Coolidge recommended it should be a national holiday.
It was President Lyndon Johnson, though, who designated the date as the third Sunday of June and President Nixon who formally instituted Father's Day as a time of national observance.
And ... in case you didn't know ... the rose is the official Father's Day flower. Red is for fathers who are living; white is for fathers who have died.
But ... June is not just about Father's Day and the beginning of summer. It is also a time to remember 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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HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
The space shuttle Atlantis recently returned from its final-repair mission to the Hubble orbiting space telescope. Hubble has been transmitting images to Earth for nineteen years. Take a look at Hubble's history and learn how it takes those amazing pictures.
ANGELS & DEMONS
Robert Langdon, fictional professor at Harvard, has a new problem to solve. He's been through this before, since his specialty baffles most individuals. As a symbologist, Langford is able to decipher ancient writings which are meaningless to nearly everyone else. Summoned to Europe, he must determine whether one vicious murder is an isolated event or a catastrophe-in-the-making.
Along the way, he will learn that antimatter isn't just something which exists in the world of science fiction. What you will learn along the way is how Dan Brown created his lead character - Professor Robert Langdon - and how videos and animations help to reveal the most-unusual world of antimatter.
NIGHT at the MUSEUM - BATTLE of the SMITHSONIANLarry Daly is back ... with many of his friends from the first Night at the Museum film. Meet who these people were, in life, and also get acquainted with a new member of the cast ... Ivan the Terrible.
To learn about new stories and current events, between monthly newsletters, follow the site through Twitter. Click the link above, sign up and off you go!
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SITE SIGNUP AND LOGIN
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| Our tech team has simplified the sign-up and log-in process on the site. Since you need both a username AND password for the new site, you will need to convert your old password. Just follow the instructions on the relevant page. |
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JUNE HIGHLIGHTS
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HELEN KELLER
On the 1st of June, 1968, Helen Keller died in Westport, Connecticut. Even though she was deaf and blind, for nearly all her life, she had earned a college degree. Famous during her lifetime, she became even more well-known after Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke immortalized how Annie Sullivan (Helen's teacher) taught her incorrigible pupil the power of language. In addition to clips from The Miracle Worker, our story includes an audio version of Helen's autobiography, Story of My Life.
ASSASSINATION of BOBBY KENNEDY
The death of his brother, President Kennedy, had plunged Bob Kennedy (as he preferred to be called) into profound grief and sadness. Trying to understand the enormity of his loss, the future presidential candidate transformed his views on important issues.
Now identifying with suffering people, he spoke out against injustice. Critics thought he was opportunistic; supporters believed his ideas could change America. Then Bobby, too, was mortally wounded on the 5th of June, 1968. Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was tried, and convicted, of the crime - but doubts remain about who actually fired the fatal shots.
D-DAY - THE NORMANDY INVASION
The phase of the moon (full) and the level of the tide (three hours past its ebb) would dictate the invasion's start. For a few days each month those conditions were possible.
A full moon would provide sufficient light. The tide had to be low enough (to allow those manning the landing crafts to see German-placed obstacles on the French shore) but high enough (for troops to avoid too much unprotected beach). The best day in June, 1944, was the 5th - a Monday. But ... the weather didn't look good.
This year, the world commemorates the 65th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion - more popularly known as D-Day. In addition to other primary sources, this story features combat footage, and historical news reels, from British, Canadian, American and German national archives.
PIRATES of the CARIBBEAN and a DEVASTATING QUAKE
It was the 17th century. Port Royal, a Jamaican seaport, was the most economically important English-speaking town in the Western Hemisphere.
But Port Royal, home base for pirates and an English Governor, was about to experience an earthshaking change of fortune. On June 7, 1692, two-thirds of the city slid into the sea and 2,000 people died.
BERLIN WALL - "TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!"
President Reagan, known as an excellent communicator, planned to say some tough words during his June 12, 1987 speech in Berlin. Its draft (written by speech writer Peter Robinson) contained comments which some staffers thought too provocative: "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! ... Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
The following year, the people of Berlin tore down the wall and its demise was celebrated with a concert featuring Beethoven's 9th Symphony. (It was one of Leonard Bernstein's last public performances.)
Twenty-four years earlier, on the 26th of June, 1963, President Kennedy had also visited the divided city of Berlin. Five months before his death, he'd famously declared: "Ich bin ein Berliner."
In addition to other primary sources, our stories on the presidential visits include original speech notes plus the "Fall of the Wall" concert in which musicians from all over the world performed Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." (Bernstein, incidentally, changed the words to fit the occasion - "Ode to Freedom.")
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SEARCHING AwesomeStories
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Stories and topics
If it's on the site, you'll find it.
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