Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in the Jewish calendar, begins today at sundown and concludes tomorrow at sundown. This “Sabbath of Sabbaths” is spent fasting, praying, and meditating. Children could read Days of Awe: Stories for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, by Eric A. Kimmel.
United Nations Flag
International Day of the Girl Child is today! The United Nations created the day in 2012, and this year’s theme is Digital Generation. Our Generation. The United Nations states, “On 11 October, International Day of the Girl, we are working alongside all girls to expand existing learning opportunities, chart new pathways and calling on the global community to rethink how to prepare them for a successful transition into the world of work.” Children can learn more at: Girl Child.
Casimir Pulaski
Portrait by Jan Styka
General Pulaski Memorial Day is celebrated by Presidential Proclamation. The first proclamation was issued in 1929. Casimir Pulaski was a Polish hero who died in the Battle of Savannah in 1779. The day remembers his death and honors all Polish-Americans. Children could learn more at: Casimir Pulaski.
Collapsible tubing was patented by John Goffe Rand in 1841. A painter and inventor, Rand invented the tubing to store oil paints. Prior to his invention, oil paints were compounded on palettes, so often oil paints were wasted. Rand received Patent Number 2,252. Children could view his patent at: Collapsible Tubing. Idea: Children could list other substances contained in collapsible tubes today.
Macaroni Box Comptometer
Comptometer, the first accurate adding machine, was patented by Dorr Eugene Felt in 1887. Made from a macaroni box and rubber bands, the prototype earned patent number 371,496. Felt and his partner became financially successful, and he held 46 other patents. The original macaroni box prototype is now part of the Smithsonian collection. Older children could learn more at: Comptometer.
Apollo 7 lifted off in 1968. The first successful three-person team, the mission lasted eleven days. Walter Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham were the crew. Children could learn more at: Apollo 7.
Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space. She was part of the 1984 Challenger crew. The mission was completed October 13, 1984. Children could learn more at: Kathryn D. Sullivan.
Space Shuttle in 2000 was launched on its one hundredth mission, to help with the International Space Station.
Children could choose from an index of space missions at: https://www.nasa.gov/missions.
World population in 1999 reached six billion people. Today the population is over eight billion. Children can view some extraordinary statistics about world populations at: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/.
Art Blakey (born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1919; died New York, New York, October 16, 1990) was a jazz drummer and bandleader.
Russell Freedman (born San Francisco, California, 1929; died New York, New York, March 16, 2018) wrote more than 50 books for children. Lincoln: A Photobiography earned the 1987 Newbery Award. The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane received a 1992 Newbery Honor Award, and Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery earned a 1994 Jane Addams Honor Award. The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights received both a 2005 Newbery Honor Award and the 2005 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Medal. In 1998 he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his lifetime contributions to children’s literature.
Roscoe Robinson, Jr. (Born Saint Louis, Missouri, 1928; died Washington, DC, July 22, 1993) was the first African American to be a four-star general in the army.
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (born New York, New York, 1884; died New York, New York, November 7, 1962) was wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, thirty-second president of the United States. She was probably one of the most influential First Ladies, holding her own press conferences. She was also a writer and a diplomat. She represented the United States at the United Nations. Children might want to read Russell Freedman’s Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery. Children could also visit a website at: Eleanor Roosevelt.
Parson Mason Locke Weems (born Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 1759; died Beaufort, South Carolina, May 23, 1825) was a minister and a bookseller. He is famous for his fiction that he presented as fact. One of his tales was the one where George Washington chopped down the cherry tree. Idea: Children could read some of his works at: Project Gutenberg. Then they could take a real person and “Parson Weems” a story.