America
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Benjamin Franklin’s Electrical Kite
We have all heard the story about Franklin flying a kite in a thunderstorm and proving that lightening is electric and the charge it creates can be collected in a Leyden jar. History purports that this experiment by Franklin took place on June 10, 1752, but there are those who question if Franklin actually ever said that he did the experiment and that instead it may have been more of a thought experiment than a practical test he enacted in reality. To learn more and decide for yourself read the 2003 New Yorker book review American Electric Did Franklin fly that kite?
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Woodstock Music & Art Fair Music Festival Performers
Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969 Musicians: Richie Havens – 5:07pm – 7:00pm “The Minstrel from Gault” “From the Prison/Get Together/From the Prison” “I’m a Stranger Here” “High Flying Bird” “I Can’t Make It Anymore” “With a Little Help from My Friends” “Handsome Johnny” “Strawberry Fields Forever / Hey Jude” “Freedom (Motherless Child)” Swami Satchidananda – gave the invocation for the festival – 7:10pm – 7:20pm Sweetwater – 7:30pm – 8:10pm “Motherless Child” “Look Out” “For Pete’s Sake” “What’s Wrong” “Crystal Spider” “Two Worlds” “Why Oh Why” “Let the Sunshine In” “Oh Happy Day” “Day Song” Bert Sommer – 8:20pm – 9:15pm “Jennifer” “The Road to…
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Folk Singer Pete Seeger Dies
Known for such popular hit songs: “If I Had a Hammer,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” and anthem for civil rights, “We Shall Overcome.” has died at the age of 94. Read More
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European Town Graves Reveal Historical Clues
Two years following Christopher Columbus ‘s journey across the Atlantic in 1492, Columbus and colonists took off on a second trip. The result of their subsequent voyage was the foundation of the first established European town in the New World. It was given the name La Isabela. La Isabela had a short four year existence. The demise of the town has always been believed by historians to have been the result of the diseases smallpox, influenza, and malaria. However, recent findings from the town’s graves, from the bones that remained, also show that the colonist suffered as well from a condition known as scurvy. To be sure scurvy would have made the towns people vulnerable targets…
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Women of America: Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson and her family arrived in America on September 18, 1634 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A controversial woman of religious fervor, she held meetings in her home for the women of Boston. She taught that salvation was through faith only and not dictated by church attendance or by the laws of the church. Her message was met with hostility and she stood trial in 1637. Anne Hutchinson was found guilty of heresy against the Puritan tenet and banished from Massachusetts. She, her family and 70 followers settled on the Island of Aquidneck, Rhode Island. In 1642, she moved to Pelham Bay, New York with her children, where in…
