Lightning is a streak of electricity that occurs in every thunderstorm. You see lightning before you hear thunder because light travels faster than sound. Lightning is caused when the negative charge of electricity in the rain clouds meets the positive charge of electricity in the falling raindrops. Most lightning occurs from cloud-to-cloud, but some lightning […]

Marquis De Lafayette was born in France on September 10, 1757. Lafayette is most remembered for his role as a major-general for the Continental Army under General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War.During the American Revolution, Lafayette served admirably in many battles like the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Rhode Island. During

Maya Lin was born in Athens, Ohio on October 5, 1959. In 1949, her parents fled Communism in China and came to the United States. In 1958 they moved to Athens, home of Ohio University, where they were professors. Her mother wrote poetry and taught literature; her father was a ceramic artist and became Dean

Mary Todd Lincoln was born on December 13, 1818, in Lexington, Kentucky. She was born into a wealthy Kentucky family, though her mother died when she was seven. The following year, her father married Betsy Humphries. The family lived in a fourteen room Kentucky mansion, which Mary shared with her 14 brothers and sisters! Her

Mickey Mantle was born on October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma. When he was four, his family moved to Commerce, Oklahoma, where he spent the rest of his childhood. His dad taught him how to play baseball and how to be a switch hitter (bat right-handed and left-handed). Mickey was an outstanding athlete from an

Founded by John W. Mecom Jr. and David Dixon in 1967, the New Orleans Saints is the only professional sports team in Louisiana today. The team plays in the National Football Conference (NFC) South Division. The team’s colours are black and gold and the logo pays tribute to its Creole roots with a Fleur-de-lis symbol.

The New York Jets were established in 1959. Originally called the Titans of New York, the team was a founding member of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. They now play in the American Football Conference (AFC) East Division and share a stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey with the New York Giants.The original

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to “retire” the penny or take it out of circulation. This movement has been countered by people passionate about preserving the penny. There are compelling reasons to eliminate the penny and to preserve it. What do you think?ELIMINATE THE PENNYAccording to the U.S. Mint, it costs

Phillis Wheatley was born in Gambia (in Africa) on May 8, 1753 and died in Boston on December 5, 1784.When she was 7 or 8, she was sold as a slave to John and Susanna Wheatley of Boston. She was named after the ship that brought her to America, The Phillis. The Poetry Foundation describes

The holiday of Thanksgiving was born from the Puritan settlement of Plymouth, on the coast of present-day Massachusetts.Puritan separatists, desperate for religious freedom, left England in 1607 for the Netherlands under increasing pressure from the crown to conform. Although they were allowed religious freedom yet they were not granted citizenship in the Netherlands, and hence,

The San Diego Chargers were established in 1960 as one of the founding members of the American Football League before it merged with the NFL in 1970. The team plays in the American Football Conference (AFC) West Division and is the only team in Southern California (there is no team currently in Los Angeles).The San

The San Francisco 49ers is a professional football team that plays in the National Football Conference (NFC) West Division. The team was a founding member of the All America Football Conference (AAFC). It joined the NFL in 1950 when the leagues merged and was one of the most successful football teams of the 1980s.The San

The Seattle Seahawks are based in Seattle, Washington, and play in the National Football Conference (NFC) Western Division. Their history begins in 1972 but they were established in 1976. It was that season they joined the NFL as an expansion team along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1972, a group of businessmen and local

By 1780, the Revolutionary War was raging in both the North and the South, and French forces had fully committed in the American effort to defeat the British. A major objective of the French-American forces was to liberate New York City, which had been occupied by the British. Initially, George Washington had wanted the combined

Tim Berners-Lee was born in London on June 8, 1955. His parents were mathematicians who worked on the Mark I computer. They encouraged Tim’s interest in maths and electronics. He majored in physics at Queen’s College, Oxford. While he was there, he built his own computer out of spare parts. He was also caught hacking