Many people believe that General George Washington visited seamstress Betsy Ross in June, 1776 to ask her to sew a stars-and-stripes flag that would become the first official flag of the new country. The story continues that Ross convinced Washington …[Continue]
Biographies Resources
Thomas Jefferson
Born on April 13, 1743, Thomas Jefferson is best remembered as the author of the Declaration of Independence. But Jefferson’s interests and talents covered an amazing range. He was also a two-term president, diplomat, architect, violinist, inventor and a founder …[Continue]
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was born March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. March is also the anniversary of his most famous invention: the telephone. In 1875, after receiving a patent for the transmission of multiple telegraph signals on a single wire, …[Continue]
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American poet and short-story author, known as a master of the macabre, but also credited with pioneering work in the detective genre and science fiction. Born in Boston, MA, Poe was orphaned at an …[Continue]
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) was born into Austrian royalty, the youngest daughter of Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa. As a young teen, she married the grandson of Louis XV, and became Queen of France at the age of nineteen. As …[Continue]
Wright Brothers
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the world’s first flight in a power-driven, heavier-than-air machine that cost about $1000 to build. With Orville at the controls and Wilbur on the ground, the plane flew 120 feet in twelve …[Continue]
E.B. White
In the world of children’s literature, E.B. White is a super-star: the author of three beloved classics “Stuart Little,” “Charlotte’s Web,” and “The Trumpet of the Swan.” He also co-authored my favorite guide to the writer’s craft, “Elements of Style.”…[Continue]
Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter (1866 – 1943) was an English author, illustrator, and conservationist best known for her children’s books featuring Peter Rabbit and other animal characters. The first draft of “The Story of Peter Rabbit” was based on a letter she …[Continue]
Margaret Wise Brown
Although “Goodnight Moon” is her best known work (it has sold forty-eight million copies since 1947), children’s author Margaret Wise Brown (1910 – 1952) wrote more than a hundred children’s books before dying suddenly at forty-two while recovering from surgery. …[Continue]
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson (born August 25, 1918) is an African-American physicist and mathematician who worked on calculating trajectories for NASA. Her work was critical to the success of Project Mercury, the Apollo missions, and the Space Shuttle, but her story wasn’t …[Continue]
