Backwards Day is celebrated today. Children could wear shirts or hats backward today. They could count backwards and say the alphabet backwards.
Jan 312025
Jan 312025
Flag of Nauru
Nauru celebrates Independence Day. It gained its independence from a United Nations Trusteeship managed by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in 1968. Nauru is a small island, only 8.1 square miles (one-tenth the size of Washington, DC), and supports about 10,000 inhabitants. Yaren is the capital. The interior used to hold reserves of phosphates, used to make fertilizers. However, the phosphates have been exhausted. Located just south of the equator in Micronesia, the country has a tropical climate. Children can learn more at: Nauru.
Jan 312025
A. G. MacDonald in 1905 drove an automobile for the first time faster than 100 miles per hour. The speed trial was located in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Jan 312025
First Social Security check was issued in 1940. Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, received check 00-000-001 for $22.54. She lived to the age of 100. Today over 64 million people receive Social Security checks. Children can learn more at: https://www.ssa.gov/history/imf.html.
Jan 312025
First US Satellite Explorer I was launched in 1958, four months after Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 were sent into space. It returned data, including confirmation of the Van Allen Radiation Belts, to the United States for four months until the batteries died. More than 90 more Explorer projects followed. Children could view a table of all the Explorer projects at: Explorer Projects.
Jan 312025
Apollo 14
Apollo 14 was launched in 1971! It was the third manned expedition to land on the moon. Commander Alan Shepard and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell walked on the moon on February 5, while Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa stayed in lunar orbit. Shepard and Mitchell collected over 94 pounds of lunar rocks, and Roosa carried several hundred seeds that were later germinated after their return to earth. Shepard actually “played golf” on the moon on February 6. Apollo 14 successfully returned to earth on February 9, 1971. Older children could learn more at: Apollo 14.
Sep 252025
Sandra Day O’Connor
Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman Supreme Court Justice when she was sworn in in 1981. She retired January 31, 2006. She died December 1, 2023. Children could learn more about her at: Sandra Day O’Connor. She founded a website to help students better understand government: https://www.icivics.org/.