On August 12, 1898, the United States and Spain signed an armistice agreement, bringing an end to the Spanish-American War. The agreement, called the “Protocol of Peace,” marked a decisive American victory and signaled the transition of the US into a world power, with Spain relinquishing control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
Every Friday we highlight our favorite education posts from the week. This week’s post offers advice about how to be a school leader and how to prevent students from succumbing to boredom this fall.
On August 7, 1959, the redesigned penny featuring the Lincoln Memorial entered circulation, ending the 50-year run of the “wheat penny.” Designed by engraver Frank Gasparro in honor of Lincoln’s 150th birthday, the surprising redesign was met with great enthusiasm from the public.
Famed American author Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819 to a well-respected New York family. The author, best known for penning Moby Dick, had a tumultuous literary career, with early acclaim giving way to sharp criticism.
On July 29, 1805, French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville was born in Paris. Tocqueville is most famous for his two-volume work, Democracy in America, which includes his observations about American political and social culture from a two-year tour of America.
On July 25, 1897, Jack London left California at the age of 21 to begin a perilous trek to the Klondike, joining hundreds of thousands of Americans who sought to make a living from the gold rush. A rugged individualist and soon-to-be famous author, London arrived in the Yukon Territory by way of the Chilkoot Pass, an unforgiving locale that would be the setting of many of his later works.
On July 18, 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first, and only, president to be nominated for a third term in office at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. The longstanding tradition of an unofficial two-term limit was tested in 1880 when Ulysses S. Grant unsuccessfully attempted to leave retirement and seek a return to the White House.
On this day in 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was defeated by Native American Sioux chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull at the Battle of Little Bighorn. After finding gold in South Dakota’s beautiful Black Hills in the 1870s, the US Army entered the region—despite previous treaties reserving the area for Native Americans. Sioux and Cheyenne tribesman gathered along the Little Bighorn River in an effort to prevent … Read more »
On June 20, 1782, Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States. The seal’s design took six years, three committees, and the combined efforts of 14 men before it was completed. The final version, combining features suggested by each of the committees, was designed by Charles Thomson of Philadelphia (1729–1824), secretary of the Continental Congress.
On March 25, 1925, Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia. She graduated from the George State College for Women in 1945 and the following year entered the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, where she first studied journalism but later became known for her fiction. Diagnosed in 1951 with lupus, she returned home to her family’s farm in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she raised birds—peafowl, ducks, ostrich, chickens—and … Read more »
Distinguished scholar-teachers Amy and Leon Kass demonstrate how short stories, speeches, and songs can be used to enhance civic education and how a pedagogical approach that stresses learning through inquiry can make primary sources come alive for students of all ages.
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“What a wonderful collection of American songs, speeches, and stories. It should be valuable for teachers, students, parents, and readers of all kinds.”
— Diane Ravitch
