Category Archives: Vocabulary

Today in History (December 10th): 1787: Birthdays: Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, founder of the first free school for the deaf. 1817: Mississippi joined the United States as the 20th state. 1830: Birthdays: Poet Emily Dickinson. 1851: Birthdays: Librarian Melvil Dewey, inventor … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 9th): 1608: Birthdays: English poet John Milton. 1845: Birthdays: Journalist Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus stories. 1851: The first YMCA in North America was established in Montreal. 1886: Birthdays: Clarence Birdseye, industrialist/inventor, noted … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 8th): Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary 1542: Birthdays: Mary, Queen of Scots. 1609: Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the second public library in Europe, opened. 1626: Christina, Queen of Sweden. 1765: Birthdays: Eli Whitney (1765—1825, Westboro, MA): Inventor … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 7th): Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 1598: Birthdays: Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. 1732: The Royal Opera House opened at Covent Garden, London. 1787: Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. 1810: Birthdays: Theodor … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 6th): 1421: Birthdays: England’s King Henry VI. 1768: Encyclopedia Britannica was first published. 1778: Birthdays: French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac. 1811: The first in a series of earthquakes rocked the Midwest in and around New Madrid, … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 5th): 1776: The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at William and Mary College in Virginia. 1782: Birthdays: Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the United States. 1839: Birthdays: U.S. Army Gen. … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 4th): 1110: The Crusaders conquered Sidon in the First Crusade. 1795: Birthdays: Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle. 1835: Birthdays: English novelist Samuel Butler. 1861: Birthdays: Actor/singer Lillian Russell. 1881: The Los Angeles Times published its first edition. … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 3rd): 1755: Birthdays: Presidential portrait painter Gilbert Stuart. 1818: Illinois was admitted as the 21st state in the United States. 1826: Birthdays: Civil War-era Gen. George B. McClellan. 1833: Oberlin College in Ohio opened with an … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 2nd): 1804: Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France. 1823: During his annual address to the U.S. Congress, President James Monroe proclaimed a new U.S. foreign policy initiative that became known as the Monroe Doctrine. 1848: Franz … Continue reading →

Today in History (December 1st): 1761: Birthdays: French wax figure sculptor Marie Tussaud. 1886: Birthdays: Detective novelist Rex Stout. 1891: The game of basketball was invented when James Naismith, a physical education teacher at the International YMCA Training School in … Continue reading →