Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain in 1821. The Adams-Onis Treaty (also called the Transcontinental Treaty) had been signed in 1819, but the treaty took effect on this day in 1821. The United States agreed to give Spain $5 million and to renounce any claims on Texas in exchange for West Florida and East Florida. Children could learn more about Florida’s history at: Florida.
Harvard Observatory in 1850 took the first photographs of a star. Mr. J. A. Whipple, under the direction of Professor W. C. Bond, chose Vega in the Lyra constellation for their subject. Vega is the second brightest star in the northern hemisphere.
Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan
Douglas (Wrong Way) Corrigan started a flight from New York in 1938. His destination was Los Angeles, California, but the next day he landed in Ireland. An instant hero, he frustrated aviation officials and returned to a ticker tape parade in New York City. Idea: Children could calculate how many miles off target he was.
Disneyland opened in 1955. Walt Disney bought 160 acres of California land that had been covered in orange groves and spent $17 million on the park. Today over fourteen million people visit the park annually and spend about $3 billion.