 |
| Lesson Plans | Narrations | Slide Shows | Videos | Images | Audio Clips | Documents | Topics |
| Visual Vocabulary Builders |
Radio Broadcasts |
Newsletters |
Contact Us |
|
COOL VIDEOS and MARCH TALES at AwesomeStories
March, 2012 |
|
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
|
|
FROM THE EDITOR
Have you ever wondered about the origins of St. Patrick's Day? Here's a bit of background. Much of what we know about St. Patrick comes from his own writings (the Confessio and Epistola). He called himself a "most humble-minded man." Historians say he was born in Britain, near the end of the fourth century, to wealthy parents. When he was sixteen, a group of Irish raiders captured him during an attack on his family's estate. He ended up in Ireland, a captive for six years. During that time he was a shepherd, lonely and afraid. Turning to religion, for support and solace, he became a devout Christian. Escaping to Britain - after a long walk to the coast - Patrick spent time with his family, then took religious training in France. He returned to Ireland, doing his best to convert the Irish to Christianity. It is believed he died, in what is now Northern Ireland, on the 17th of March in approximately 460. His religious feast day - commemorating the likely day of his death - became a modern secular holiday. In 1766, ten years before Britain's colonies in America declared their independence, Irish immigrants held the first St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City. Currently, people in some cities and towns dye their rivers and streams "green" to celebrate the day. Even fountains at the White House now feature green water. March is not just about shamrocks and the "luck o'the Irish," however. Let's take a look at some of the videos and stories we are featuring this month. |
|
WHAT'S NEW...OR...IN THE NEWS
THE LORAX The Lorax - a new film based on the book by Dr. Seuss - is causing excitement in movie theaters across North America. Our companion story, which features four areas of the world where deforestation is still a major problem, is filled with videos, pictures, supporting primary sources and ... questions to ponder. HILARIOUS ANIMATION - THE STORY of SAINT PATRICK In the 1960s, an Irish teacher named Peig Cunningham - who worked in North Dublin - duped her elementary-aged students into thinking their class recitations would be heard on the radio. Improbably ... they were, albeit decades later. Then ... one of those audio recordings, about St. Patrick, was used to create an animation about Ireland's patron saint. We provide a clip for your St. Patrick's Day enjoyment. ANIMALS as DEFENDANTS For more than a thousand years, animals were periodically tried as defendants throughout Europe. From moles which were prosecuted in 824 to a dog which was accused in 1906, the stories - almost impossible to believe - are based on compiled records. RED TAILS The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American pilots initially denied the right to fly U.S. military planes during World War II. Featured in a recent film called Red Tails, these airmen became some of the most-valued bomber-escort pilots in Europe. In our story behind the film, learn how Eleanor Roosevelt helped to work around the U.S. government's policy of military discrimination against African-Americans. SNOW WHITE - MIRROR, MIRROR A new live-action film, about "Snow White," opens later in March. Did you know ... the Brothers Grimm likely based their fairy tale on a real girl who lived in the Middle Ages? Meet the real Snow White - and see the actual "talking mirror" - in our story behind the film. NOTE: We will activate the link on, or before, March 22. (Before then, you will land on the "Whoops" page.) INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY Commemorate "International Women's Day" - on March 9th - by remembering the struggle to vote. The story is depicted in this series of videos. VISUAL VOCABULARY BUILDERS Explore a new feature at Awesome Stories - our Visual Vocabulary Builders. Currently, they support fourteen stories (with 140 words and pictures). AWESOME STORIES ... IN THE NEWS Awesome Stories, and the site's editor, were featured in a major news profile. In case you missed it ... take a look at the story and its pictures. FOLLOW AWESOME STORIES ON TWITTER 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! NEWSLETTERS ONLINE 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. You can access it at any time. |
|
SITE SIGNUP and LOGIN
We have a simple sign-up and log-in process on the site. You need both a username AND a password. Just follow the instructions on the relevant page. |
|
QUICK CLIPS from the VIDEO ARCHIVES
SALEM WITCH TRIALS Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the last American president to take the oath of office in March. Thereafter, a constitutional amendment moved inaugural dates to January 20th. Becoming president during a time of national crisis, FDR told the American people (and the people of the world): "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." On the 5th of March, 1922, "Nosferatu" - a silent film based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" - premiered in Berlin. For many film scholars, the work still defines the horror genre.
The first African-American pilot squadron - known as the 99th Pursuit - became active on the 19th of March, 1941. It was known as the "Tuskegee Experiment." BATTLE of the SOMME - HISTORIC FOOTAGE BEETHOVEN'S MUSIC - 2ND MOVEMENT, 7TH SYMPHONY VIRGINIA WOOLF - SURVIVING VOICE RECORDING Virginia Woolf, the famous British author, drowned in a river near her home on the 28th of March, 1941. A single recording of her voice survives.ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION of PRESIDENT REAGAN A few months after his first inauguration, President Reagan was leaving a Washington D.C. building when shots rang out. It was the 30th of March, 1981. Historical footage of the attempted assassination, as it happened, was somehow filed away - then rediscovered, twenty-five years later. This clip, of that event, depicts the chaotic situation which ensued immediately after the shooting. PRESIDENT REAGAN DESCRIBES the SHOOTING After he recovered from his very serious injuries, President Reagan describes what happened during the attempted assassination and its ensuing events.
The Eiffel Tower draws about 7 million annual visitors, but most people may not realize it was originally slated for a very short lifespan. A single vote, in favor of retaining the wonder of Paris, kept the tower from being disassembled twenty years after it was erected. So many people were upset about the "Community Charge" - more popularly known as the "Poll Tax" - that riots erupted throughout Britain in March of 1990. The will of the people was clearly at odds with the will of the sitting Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher - and most (but not all) members of her government. |
|
MARCH HIGHLIGHTS
YELLOWSTONE - THE FIRST NATIONAL PARK Yellowstone became America's first national park on the 1st of March, 1872. Take a look at how the park - and other areas of unspoiled beauty - appeared at the time.
The Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836. A few days later - on March 6 - the Alamo fell. The massacre led to the rally cry: "Remember the Alamo!" Thanks to the Texas State Archives, significant primary sources help us to study the events.
If it hadn't been for Doc Beanes, Francis Scott Key may never have found himself on a Royal Navy ship as the British attacked Ft. McHenry. Had he not been on the ship, Key may not have written his famous poem - which officially became America's national anthem on March 3, 1931. Learn the story and see the famous, now-restored flag. On the 3rd of March, 1933, Mt. Rushmore was dedicated. What made anyone decide to carve the heads of presidents on the side of a mountain?
One of the most remarkable people who ever lived, Helen Keller overcame many obstacles as she learned how to communicate. Not only that, she worked around blindness and deafness to graduate from college, write books and travel the world. Her whole world changed, in March of 1887, when Annie Sullivan showed her how to talk with her fingers.
On the 9th of March, 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court set the Amistad captives free. They were not slaves, said the court, and they should be free to return to their own country. A former American President - John Quincy Adams - represented the Amistad captives and had eloquently argued for their release. The high court's decision was not cheered by everyone.
On the 10th of March, in a disputed year, Harriet Tubman was born "Araminta Ross." She became one of the most famous "conductors" of the Underground Railroad. What, exactly, was the underground railroad - and - how did it work?
With the world already at war, something even more terrible developed during March of 1918. Soldiers in Kansas began to get sick - really sick. Their illness, which soon spread to various places throughout the world, eventually caused more deaths than all the fighting of World War One. That illness is now known as "Spanish Flu." NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE and THE SCARLET LETTER Nathaniel Hawthorne published his famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, on the 16th of March, 1850. Was the author thinking about his great-great grandfather - one of three judges who determined that residents of Salem were witches (and condemned them to death) - when he wrote his story? And ... might that be the reason why he changed the spelling of his last name?
The legends of St. Patrick's day go beyond "wearing of the green." Before all the celebrations, and stories about shamrocks, a real person lived and died in Ireland. Who was St. Patrick? (Hint ... he wasn't born Irish.)
In March of 1886, Dr. John Pemberton created a secret formula for a drink he called Coca-Cola. A few years later, he sold his rights to the product for a mere $2,000. Until 1905, the popular drink contained the cocaine alkaloid.
During the apartheid years, South Africans were required to carry passbooks - in their own country. On the 21st of March, 1960, unarmed people were protesting the hated laws when a massacre erupted. After the police stopped firing on the crowd, 69 people were dead and 180 more were wounded. Today, South Africa remembers the event on "Human Rights Day."
STAMP ACT - A SURVIVING "STAMP" One act of Parliament, which really infuriated the American colonists, was passed on the 22nd of March, 1765. The intent of the "Stamp Act" was to collect significant taxes from the Americans. This photo depicts one of the much-despised stamps. DISCOVERY OF TITAN - SATURN'S LARGEST MOON
A Dutchman named Christiaan Huygens made a remarkable discovery on March 25, 1655. With the use of his relatively powerful telescope, he "found" Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
THOMAS JEFFERSON - "THE SILENT MEMBER"
On the 27th of March, 1775, a man who did not enjoy public speaking was elected to the Continental Congress. Because of that reluctance to speak, in public, Thomas Jefferson became known as "the silent member" of Congress. Who was he?
VAN GOGH'S VASE with 15 SUNFLOWERS During his lifetime, Vincent van Gogh's art did not sell. After his death, by suicide, people recognized his genius. On the 30th of March, 1987, a single van Gogh painting - "Vase with 15 Sunflowers" - sold for $39.5 million. Have a look.
On the 30th of March, 1867, America purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. William Seward, wounded in an assassination attempt the night President Lincoln was killed, had lived long enough to see one of his greatest dreams come true. Not everyone agreed that buying Alaska made sense. To some, the purchase was known as "Seward's Folly." See the original purchase documents, including the paid "warrant."
ABIGAIL ADAMS - "REMEMBER the LADIES" On the 31st of March, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband. John was one of five delegates, to the Continental Congress, charged with writing a "Declaration of Independence" from Great Britain. Penning her letter while in Braintree (Massachusetts), Abigail urged her husband to "remember the ladies" in the declaration of freedom. He did not follow her advice, signing on to a document which only asserts that "all men are created equal." |
| HAVE A GREAT MARCH! Awesome Stories |
        |
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 and the Bhagavad Gita
- Bonhoeffer: Martyr of Faith
- C.S. Lewis
- Dead Sea Scrolls
- Easter Story
- Freedom of Religion