Anesthesia was used for the first time in surgery in 1842. Dr. Crawford Long operated on a tumor on the neck of James Venable. The patient had been given ether. Long did not report the results of the surgery until 1849.
Mar 302024
Mar 302024
Egg Incubator was patented by Napoleon E. Guerin of New York, New York, in 1843. He received Patent #3,019. Incubators circulate warm air around fertilized eggs until the chicks hatch. Children can learn more at: Egg Incubator.
Mar 302024
Pencils with erasers
Pencil with eraser was patented in 1858 by Hymen Lipman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received Patent Number 19,783. About two billion pencils are produced each year. The pencil “lead” is really a form of graphite.
Mar 302024
William Henry Seward
Alaska was bought by the United States from Russia in 1867. The purchase was often originally called Seward’s Folly. William Seward, secretary of state, bought Alaska for $1,200,000. That averaged out to about two cents an acre. The 1898 Alaska gold rush was one of the first indicators that the United States had made a good bargain. Children could learn more at: Alaska.
Mar 302024
Amendment Fifteen to the Constitution was adopted in 1870. A person’s right to vote could not be denied on the basis of “race, color, or previous servitude.” Children can examine a photo of the original document, read a transcript of the document, and learn more about the background of the amendment at: Amendment Fifteen.