Flag of Italy
Italy celebrates Republic Day. It became a republic in 1946. Slightly larger than the state of Arizona, the country supports a population of 61 million people. Rome is the capital, and its mountainous interior supports olive groves and vineyards. Children can learn more at: Italy.
Hristo Botev Photograph
Public Domain
Bulgarians celebrate Hristo Botev Day. In 1876 Hristo Botev, writer and hero, died while fighting the Turks. Today Botev is a national hero in Bulgaria.
Grover and Frances
Grover Cleveland became the first and only President to wed in the White House when he married Frances Folsom, age 22, in 1886. Idea: Children might find out how Frances and Grover met.
Native Americans were given citizenship in 1924. President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting between 125,000 and 300,000 Native Americans full rights. They did not have to apply for citizenship, and they could keep their tribal rights. Children could learn more at: Citizenship. They could also explore an AMAZING website regarding present-day Native Americans: Native Americans.
Flag of United Kingdom
Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953. She was queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and other parts of her realm. She was born in 1926 and became queen when her father King George VI died. Her coronation was the first widely televised world event. She died on September 8, 2022
Charles “Pete” Conrad
Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. (born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1930; died near Ojai, California, July 8, 1999) was an astronaut. He participated in four space flights, and he was the third person to walk on the moon. Older children can read more at: Pete Conrad.
Michael Emberley (born Boston, Massachusetts, 1960) writes and illustrates books for children. The son of author/illustrator Ed Emberley, Michael has written at least 20 books, including Mail Harry to the Moon and Ruby and the Sniffs.
Paul Galdone (born Budapest, Hungary, 1914; died Nyack, New York, November 7, 1986) was an author and illustrator of children’s books. He received a 1957 Caldecott Honor Award for Anatole and another Caldecott Honor Award in 1958 for Anatole and the Cat. Children can learn more at: Paul Galdone.
Norton Juster (born Brooklyn, New York, 1939; died Northampton, Massachusetts, March 8, 2021) was an architect and author. Perhaps his most famous book is The Phantom Tollbooth, published in 1961. He also wrote The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics, published in 1963.
Helen Oxenbury (born Suffolk, England, 1938) writes and illustrates books for children. She has written and illustrated at least 59 books and has illustrated at least 20 books by other authors. She has twice received the Kate Greenaway Medal, in 1969 for The Quangle Wangle’s Hat and in 2000 for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Martha Washington
Martha Dandridge Washington (born near Williamsburg, Virginia, 1731; died Mount Vernon, Virginia, May 22, 1802) was America’s First Lady from April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797. She was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Her first husband was Daniel Parke Custis; he died in 1757. She had to raise their two children alone. In 1759 she married George Washington. She never lived in the White House because the nation’s capital moved from New York to Philadelphia while Washington was president. Children could visit a website at: Martha Washington.