Monthly Archives: May 2025
HISTORY TIDBIT: THE ROMAN KING MIDAS
The Roman Emperor, Caligula, loved several living things: power, orgies, gladiatorial shows, his sisters, his horse, Incitatus, and, most of all, himself. He also loved gold – in any shape or form. He had a gold statue of himself put up in a temple in Rome and dressed the same way as he was each […]
HISTORIC 85th ANNIVERSARY: THE EVACUATION OF DUNKIRK
One of the men rescued in Dunkirk had been the chauffeur of the retired admiral my mother was working for. This huge naval operation being of great interest to him, Rear Admiral Sir Dudley De Chair (1864-1958) had the young fellow up to the house to tell him all about it afterwards. The admiral’s own […]
HISTORY LURE: MUSEUM STORIES
Visits to museums are a great way to introduce kids to history or further cultivate an interest they already have, and reading books about museums to them beforehand can make it even more fun. Books like Mike Nicholson’s Museum Mystery Squad series, R. L. LaFevers’s Theodosia series, The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone, and my […]
HISTORIC STRUCTURE: EL CARACOL
The complex design of the ancient observatory, El Caracol, reveals the vast astronomical knowledge and engineering capabilities of the Mayan people. https://kids.kiddle.co/El_Caracol,_Chichen_Itza https://www.chichenitza.com/el-caracol https://annex.exploratorium.edu/ancientobs/chichen/HTML/caracol.html https://vocal.media/history/el-caracol-the-mayan-marvel-of-astronomy-and-architecture
TRIVIA TRAIL: WORLD’S OLDEST OPTICAL ILLUSION
Question: What is the world’s oldest known optical illusion? Answer: A14,000-year-old mammoth/bison hunting tool ornament that archaeologists discovered in 1973. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a31941876/ancient-optical-illusions/ https://www.optics4kids.org/optical-illusions https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/brain/optical-illusions-and-how-they-work