National Cookie Day is today! In 1987 Matt Nader of the San Francisco Blue Chip Cookie Company decided cookies needed their own holiday. Idea: Children could certainly make their own cookies today. They could also poll friends and family members as to everyone’s favorite type of cookie.
First Thanksgiving in North America was held in 1619 when 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish (England) reached the New World in Virginia and prayed, thanking God for a safe voyage.
Fraunces Tavern
George Washington said goodbye to his officers at the Fraunces Tavern in New York City in 1783. Fraunces Tavern is now part museum and part restaurant. Children can read the text of his speech at: Farewell Speech.
Mary Celeste was found abandoned in 1872. The ship had left New York on November 5, 1872. The crew of another ship, the Dei Gratia, observed that she was floating aimlessly near the coast of Portugal. Members of the Dei Gratia crew boarded her on December 4 and found no people and no sign of violence. The captain and his family, the crew, and a lifeboat and navigation instruments were missing, but the ship and cargo were in excellent shape. The mystery of the Mary Celeste has yet to be solved. Children could read The Mary Celeste: An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple. Older children could read more at: Mary Celeste.