THE CARROLLTON MASSACRE

            Recently the Tulsa Massacre has been revived as a tale of poor treatment of blacks in America’s past.  Another forgotten massacre that deserves to be in history classrooms is the Carrollton Massacre.  It occurred in Mississippi in 1886.  In January, Ed and Charley Brown, part Native American and part Read more…

OPERATION CARTHAGE

Netflix has a new movie called “The Bombardment”.  It is a Danish film (with dubbed dialogue) that tells a fictional tale based on one of the greatest tragedies of collateral damage in WWII.  I don’t recommend showing it in the classroom unless you want a class full of crying kids, Read more…

THE COURRIERES MINE DISASTER

            The worst mining disaster in European history occurred on March, 10, 1906.  1,099 coal miners at a mine in northern France were killed when coal dust exploded.  (The worst mining accident was the Benxihu Colliery Incident in China in 1942.  1,549 miners were killed.)  On March 9, a fire Read more…

THE HISTORY OF MONOPOLY

            Lizzie Magie was a woman ahead of her time.  She was a feminist and a socialist.  In fact, she was an anti-monopolist at a time when the Robber Barons reigned.   She wrote poetry.  She also designed games.  In 1904, she came up with a game she called “The Landlord’s Read more…

ANNE SULLIVAN

            Anne Sullivan is the most famous teacher of the deaf in American History.  She limited herself to one pupil –  Helen Keller.  The two met on March 3, 1887.  Keller was the daughter of well-to-do ex-Confederate officer. She had a stable family life, although she was the cause of Read more…

THEORIES ON THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

                The most famous witchcraft trials were held in Salem, Massachusetts between February, 1692 and May, 1693.  Teenage girls accused members of the community of being witches and before the hysteria ran its course 200 people were accused.  30 were found guilty.  20 were executed (19 hanged and one pressed Read more…

WHO STARTED THE REICHSTAG FIRE?

            On Feb. 27, 1933 the Reichstag  (German Parliament) building caught fire and was substantially damaged.  Hitler and the Nazis blamed it on the communists and in order to avert a communist takeover, Hitler was given dictatorial powers.  But was the fire actually set by the Nazis?              By 1933, Read more…