SweetSearch2Day

Let's Go Exploring

Welcome to SweetSearch2Day, where students learn something new every day.

We developed it with leading educators to help teachers integrate online content into daily lessons, and to lead students to explore the best content online.

To quote the parting words of a Calvinist philosopher who left us too soon, today is “a day full of possibilities. Let’s go exploring.”

Sincerely,

Mark Moran

“Love, truth, and the courage to do what is right should be our own guideposts.”

• The Big Picture writes: "The universality of our lives is never so evident as when we feature a collection of 'slice of life' photographs from around the world. Common experience is what brings us together as people."

• Wired's This Day in Tech discusses the first launch of a "container ship," in 1956. Today, container ships carry 90% of global cargo, and the cost of shipping cargo has fallen from 15% of its retail value to 1%, leading to the boon in foreign trade.

• Scholastic covers a team of student engineers at Purdue University who set a Guinness World Record by creating a Rube Golberg machine that takes 300 separate steps - to pop a balloon.  

• Coretta Scott King was born on April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, AL. She was a singer, an organizer and an activist in her own right, pledging her support to nonviolence, tolerance and equality for all races, genders and classes. In her obituary, Time magazine cited Mrs. King's autobiography: "Love, truth, and the courage to do what is right should be our own guideposts on this lifelong journey."  

• On April 27, 1865, the steamboat Sultana, carrying an estimated 2,000 Union veterans home, exploded near Memphis, killing most of the men on board. Coming 12 days after the assassination of President Lincoln, and in the waning days of the Civil War, the tragedy received little attention in the newspapers of the day. 

• On April 27, 1521, explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by a Filipino tribe, months after he had become the first man to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The surviving members of his crew would sail back to Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the world. 

"Listening is one of the most important things we can do for one another."

Fred Rogers was born March 20, 1928. For more than 30 years he welcomed children and their parents into a realm of imagination on his show, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Through his world of make-believe and real life experience, Rogers aimed to teach children self-esteem, how to understand their feelings and appreciate the world around them.

In his posthumous biography, Rogers is quoted as saying "More and more I've come to understand that listening is one of the most important things we can do for one another."

Read our full profile, which includes links to some classic video of Mr. Rogers in action.

On March 20, 1899, Martha M. Place, of Brooklyn, NY, convicted of murdering her daughter, became the first woman to be executed by electric chair, after NY Gov. Theodore Roosevelt refused to grant clemency.

From SweetSearch2Day, which each and every day offers links to a carefully curated assortment of the best content on the Web for history, language arts, science, news, culture and other topics:

Wired's This Day in Tech covers Venice's passing the first law known to grant and protect patents, in 1474.

NASA's Astronomy photo of the day is actually an astonishing video of the evolution of the Moon.

The Big Picture offers a remarkable photo essay of water use around the world, in celebration of World Water Day on March 22.

Women weren't allowed to go to school then, so Mary Lyon built one of her own.

This week, I scoured the Web for lesson plans and activities for Women's History Month. Few, if any, asked students to do Web research, demonstrate media literacy, synthesize multiple resources, communicate their findings in a manner that engages modern audiences, or share their project outside the walls of their school.

In this blog post, I suggest a few activities that will help students learn about inspiring women and seminal events in women's history, and also offer a learning experience that is relevant to the world in which they live and will one day seek to work. We also list our free resources to assist students in their work, and discuss an opportunity for students to publish their work.

Mary Lyon, founder of Mount Holyoke College, was born in Massachusetts on Feb. 28, 1797. In her town, girls were not allowed to attend school, and had to sit on the school steps, trying to hear what they could of the teacher's lessons. Her struggle to obtain her own education led to her devoting her life to educating other women. In 1837, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary opened in South Hadley, Mass., with Lyon as its principal.

On Feb. 28, 1993, federal agents tried to arrest David Koresh at his Waco, Texas, compound. A gunfight ensued, killing 10 and beginning a 51-day standoff that ended in a horrific, deadly blaze.

From SweetSearch2Day:

Letters of Note offers this letter from Bertrand Russell to Albert Einstein, which was an early draft of what became a joint manifesto warning the world's population on the dangers of nuclear weapons, and pleading for all leaders to avoid war when faced with conflict. The short reply from Einstein is believed to be the last letter he ever wrote.

NASA's Astronomy Photo of the Day offers this stunning picture of Saturn's Hyperion, a moon with oddly shaped craters.

The Big Picture captures the unrest and uncertainty in Libya.

Happy Birthday Jules Verne

On Feb. 8, 1587, Mary I of Scotland was beheaded for her alleged role in a conspiracy against her cousin Queen Elizabeth I of England. Mary was a claimant to the English throne who had the support of English Catholics. As such, she was a threat to her cousin, the Protestant Queen. In Mary's final letter, written to her brother-in-law Henri III of France six hours before her execution, she expressed a belief that "she was dying a religious martyr," and wrote that "I scorn death and vow that I meet it innocent of any crime," according to the National Library of Scotland.  Click here to read the full article, with links to outstanding resources, including Mary's final letter.

Have you noticed Google's logo today? It celebrates the birthday of Jules Verne, who was born in Nantes, France, on Feb. 8, 1828. He was a pioneer in literature. With a powerful interest in writing and an imagination that was ahead of his time, Verne became a dominant figure in the science fiction world, writing about ideas that often didn't become a reality until many years later. Click here to read our full biography.

Also be sure to read our profile of Nellie Bly, an intrepid journalist who, at the age of 23 in 1889, sailed around the world in a balloon in 72 days, besting the 80 days of Verne's fictional character, Phileas Fogg. Bly met Verne during her journey, and received his full encouragement.

At Dulcinea Media, we encourage educators to provide students with a list of credible and relevant resources to use on most school assignments. Here is our article explaining the 8 best Web sites for learning about the 50 states of the U.S.

This Day in 1959: Batista's Forces Cede Cuba to Castro; a History of the U.S. & Cuba

Cuba was ceded to the U.S. by Spain as part of the treaty that ended the Spanish American War, in 1898. Indeed, the main impetus for the war was U.S. support of Cuba, which had been seeking its independence from Spain since 1885. While most Americans have heard of the famous surge of Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders up San Juan Hill, perhaps not as many understand that it ended the Spanish-American War and led to Cuba's independence from Spain and tight association with the U.S.

Fulgencio Batista, who had served as Cuban president between 1940 and 1944, seized control of the Cuban government in a 1952 coup d’etat. The Batista regime, which maintained close relation with the United States, was corrupt and unpopular with the Cuban population.

Fidel Castro led a nationalistic movement against Batista, launching an armed attack on the Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953. The assault was put down and many of the revolutionaries were imprisoned.

Batista released Castro in 1955 at the urging of the Cuban public. Castro retreated to Mexico to train his guerrilla force along with famed revolutionary Che Guevara. He returned to his homeland in December aboard the ship Granma, surviving a bloody encounter upon landing. He retreated to the Sierra Madre mountains and began military operations.

On January 1, 1959, Castro seized control of the country from Fulgencio Batista (Spanish version here).

On Oct. 19, 1960, the Eisenhower administration placed an embargo on exports to Cuba, setting in motion an uneasy political relationship that continues to this day.  Read the full story, in English or Spanish.

Seminal events in Cuba-U.S. relations since the embargo include the Cuban Missile Crisis, the disastrous Bay of Pigs Invasion, (Spanish version here) the Mariel Boatlift of 1980 (Spanish version here), and a lengthy series of airplane hijackings in the 1960s.

While campaigning, now-President Barack Obama promised unlimited rights for American to travel to Cuba, leading to hopes for elimination of the trade embargo once he became President. However, a January 2009 speech by Raul Castro on the 50th anniversary of the revolution in Cuba dimmed hopes for an immediate thaw in Cuba-U.S. relations. In March 2009, Obama did indeed ease, but not eliminate, (for Spanish version click here) travel restrictions. Many in the U.S., particularly conservatives, continue to call for the end to the embargo.

In an uncanny parallel to the situation in Cuba, at the same time that Castro was first challenging Batista in Cuba, the U.S. was assisting Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in a coup that led him to becoming the Shah of Iran. Twelve years later, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, like Castro, would be exiled for his outspoken resistance to the Shah. And like Castro, he returned to overthrow his nemesis; and, as with the Bay of Pigs, the U.S. reaction included a humiliating military operation.

Today, the coup in Iran is blamed for removing a democratically elected leader and ushering in 26 years of authoritarian rule. In 2000, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright issued an apology to Iran, saying, “the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development.” In June 2009, President Obama, in a speech in Cairo, became the first president to publicly acknowledge the United States’ role in the coup.

 

For Pittsburgh Sports Fans, a Miracle, Then Tragedy

On Dec. 23, 1972, the Steelers beat the Raiders on a miraculous-and disputed-last-second touchdown dubbed the "Immaculate Reception."

By 1972, the Pittsburgh Steelers had been in the National Football League for 39 seasons. During that time, they had finished above .500 only nine times and had made just one postseason appearance. With 22 seconds left in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Oakland Raiders, the Steelers trailed 7-6. With his team facing fourth-and-10 at its own 40-yard line, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw fired a pass to running back John "Frenchy" Fuqua. In one of the most bizarre plays in football history, Fuqua, Raiders safety Jack Tatum and the ball all collided simultaneously, sending the ball ricocheting back toward the line of scrimmage




Steelers rookie running back Franco Harris plucked the ball out of the air at his shoestrings and ran it 42 yards into the endzone.

Steelers fans rushed onto the field, though the referees did not signal touchdown. In 1972, it was illegal for a pass to rebound from one receiver to another without it being touched by a defensive player. Because Fuqua, Tatum and the ball hit simultaneously, it was nearly impossible to tell whether it hit Tatum or Fuqua. Thirty years later, physics professors were still arguing the issue. Fortunately, we have a video so you can decide for yourself.

The reception ended nearly 40 years of futility for the Pittsburgh NFL team, which went on to win 4 Super Bowls in the next decade. But for Pittsburgh sports fans, the joy from the event subsided just 8 days later, when Pittsburgh baseball legend Roberto Clemente was killed in a plane crash.

December 23 is also the birthday of Madam C.J. Walker, the first African-American female millionaire.

From SweetSearch2Day:

 

Our feature article highlights 9 historical events that happened on Christmas Day.

 

NatGeo's Photo of the Day is of Giant's Causeway in Ireland.

The Poem that Honored One Revolution and Inspired Another

On Dec. 20, 1860, 150 years ago today, the Atlantic Monthly published The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem has been a staple in American classrooms ever since, read and often memorized to commemorate the courage of Revere.

However, as we noted in our On This Day about the ride, "Many facts about Revere and his ride have become lost in the mythology that now surrounds the story." An op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times explains the purpose of the poem was not so much to honor Revere, but to stir Union forces to launch the Civil War and end slavery.

The NEH's EDSITEment offers lesson plans on why we remember Paul Revere today.

On December 20, 1989, U.S. forces invaded Panama to remove General Manuel Noriega from power.

December 20 is the birthday of Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers executive who signed Jackie Robinson and broke ground on so many other fronts in the baseball world.

From SweetSearch2Day:

 

Big Picture offers the third of a three-part collection of Photos of the Year 2010.

Who Was Eiffel? Eichmann Sentenced to Hang; Voyager 1 at the Edge of our Solar System

On December 15, 1832, Gustave Eiffel was born in Dijon, France.  Eiffel’s creations can be found on several continents. Among other things, he created the framework for the Statue of Liberty, and played a controversial role in the development of the locks of the Panama Canal. But he is best known for his eponymous Parisian tower, so much so that it is written, "the man behind the masterpiece gradually disappeared in the towering shadow of his creation.”

Eiffel is one of many of the world's great inventors and scientists that students can learn about from our SweetSearch Biographies page for this category.

This day in 1961, Adolf Eichmann, a former Gestapo lieutenant colonel who oversaw Nazi Germany’s mass deportation and killing of Jews, was sentenced to hang by a Jerusalem court. After the war, Eichmann had escaped to Argentina, where he lived for a decade, before being captured and secreted out of the country by Israeli agents. His trial was the first televised around the world; it is when much of the world first learned of the horrors of the Holocaust. Eichmann's final statement was chilling; he acknowledged his guilt but attributed it to obedience and allegiance to his country.

We don't profile many contemporary people, but earlier this week we celebrated the 21st birthday of Taylor Swift. Read our profile of Taylor to understand why we write she's "not just another pop princess" and unlikely to follow her many fellow teen stars into scandal.

From SweetSearch2Day:

 

The BBC News Widget has an article on Voyager 1's 33-year journey to the edge of the solar system.

The New York Times Learning Network asked students, "Is School Stressing You Out?" As usual, the scores of comments offer a lot of insight.

Man Reaches South Pole; Death of George Washington; Basis of The Wind in the Willows

On Dec. 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen and four fellow Norwegian explorers became the first men to reach the South Pole, beating the ill-fated team of British Capt. Robert F. Scott by just over a month. Our On This Day article captures this race to the South Pole, which enraptured the world, and ended triumphantly for one party and tragically for the other.

In our newsletter last week, we highlighted this letter from Captain Scott to his wife, written as his safe return became increasingly unlikely.

Amundsen is one of many of the world's great adventurers and explorers that students can learn about from our SweetSearch Biographies page for this category.

This day in 1546, Tycho Brahe, notable Danish astronomer, was born. His perfectionist approach to astronomy and astronomical instruments yielded some of the field's greatest discoveries. His meticulous measurements of objects at different stages of their orbits was a revolutionary approach to astronomy that helped pave the way for the more sophisticated conjectures of Kepler, Galileo and others who followed Brahe. Specifically, Kepler used Brahe's observations to develop the theory that the planets move in elliptical orbits.

From SweetSearch2Day:

 

American Memory covers the death of George Washington, on December 14, 1799. Though Washington wished to enjoy retirement after the end of the American Revolution, he was continually asked to set aside his personal interests to serve his country.  On the day of his death, he said "I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions; but I pray you to take no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot last long."

 

Letters of Note features a handwritten letter from Kenneth Grahame to his 7 year-old son, asking "Have you heard about the Toad?" This letter, and bedtime stories that Grahame told to his son, became the basis for his classic book, "The Wind in the Willows."

The Big Picture offers these photos of student protests in London over tuition hikes.

Sir Francis Drake Sets Sail; the Breakup of the Beatles; Another Female Pharaoh?

On Dec. 13, 1577, Francis Drake, with Queen Elizabeth’s blessing, left England on an expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Drake became the second man, after Ferdinand Magellan, to complete a circumnavigation of the globe. Drake is one of many of the world's great adventurers and explorers that students can learn about from our SweetSearch Biographies page for this category.

 

On December 13, 1936, Karim Aga Khan IV, leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, was born in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

From SweetSearch2Day:

 

The Scholastic news widget includes an article that provides a view that Arsinoe II may have been a female pharaoh of Egypt two centuries before Cleopatra. This summer we published a biography of Arsinoe II.

 Letters of Note features a handwritten letter from John Lennon that provides some insight into the breakup of The Beatles.