Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his small plane, The Spirit of St. Louis.

It was specially built for the journey--complete with wings--that doubled as gas tanks.

This wonderful plane now is in the Smithsonian. When Lindbergh was an old man, he would often go there incognito to gaze at the plane that carried him across the Atlantic Ocean.

On his flight, Lindbergh turned around to "buzz" St. John's Newfoundland. He was next spotted by fishermen off the Irish coast. A few hours later, the Eiffel Tower was lit up, and he landed at Le Bourget Airport.

It is exciting to think about this handsome young pilot--another hero of the 1920's where there were so many heroic firsts!

Sadly, Lindbergh's life was touched by tragedy. His first child was kidnapped and murdered. He was a misguided pacifist in the pre-World War II era, and revelations about two "hidden" families have tarnished his image.

In June of 1919, the Germans were angry about the punitive conditions of the treaty of Versailles.

Over 78 German warships were being held by the British at Scapa Flow, in the Orkney archipelago north of Scotland. Scapa Flow was a large protected Bay. Even the Vikings had used it as a mooring spot from storms over 1000 years ago.

The German fleet was ordered to be given to the British and the French as part of war reparations.
However, this was considered an affront to German honor. The admiral decided to sink the ships instead. The great scuttle of Scapa Flow began--

Over 50 ships were scuttled.
However, there was loss of life--nine German sailors were shot in the act of scuttling. They are considered among the last casualties of World War I.

What was the cost to the Germans? For acting in spite, the price of the ships was calculated and added to the bill at the Treaty of Versailles--just as the cost of Waterloo was added to the French Bill at the Congress of Vienna in 1815-1816

Anastatia and Anna Anderson and imposters in general....

My ninth grades will be viewing the movie Rasputin this week. The events of the Russian Revolution and the execution of the Russian Royal Family continue to interest people. One of the most famous imposter stories is the story of Anastatia--though there have been other imposters that have created havoc in history including:
Perkin Warbeck (prince who was murdered in Tower of London by Richard III)
Kaspar Hauser (was he a member of the Baden royal family)
and Pugachev (Peter II--Catherine the Great's murdered husband)
All of these are incredible stories--but none was more mysterious than that of Anna Anderson, a Polish woman who insisted that she was Anastatia, the Romanov princess, who had survived her family's massacre at Ekaterinburg, Russia, in July of 1918. She had many people fooled, until when DNA tests officially established that her story was a lie.
Yes, the Disney movie was a bit far fetched.
Scientists announced in July 2008 that the results have been independently verified by laboratories such as the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the United States. This confirms that all members of the Romanov party were killed at Ekaterinburg

Happy Birthday Oregon

This Saturday is Oregon's 150th Birthday--when its statehood was officially declared in Salem, Oregon in 1859.
Oregon played an important part in World War I by shipping food overseas and providing soldiers for the war effort.
Dances were held, and books were gathered to send overseas.
Herbert Hoover distinguished himself by arranging for food supplies to get over to Europe to feed starving Europeans. The food crisis in Europe was very severe.
As a thank you, Belgian Women embroidered the wheat sacks and sent them back to Herbert Hoover as a thank you for helping them to feed their hungry families.

Trench foot and World War I

Students in Freshman history are now studying World War I. They will have an opportunity next week to try on a gas mask and look at some other foot. They will even get to smell and touch a canister of "Foot powder," from army supplies of 1918 (yes, E-bay does have everything!).

Trench foot was a serious problem in the damp muddy trenches of World War I's Western Front. So much so that a soldier could be court martialed if they did not attend to their feet. Immersion foot, or trench foot, is a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions.

It was first noted officially by Napoleon, but it was a problem even in Vietnam and the Falklands war of 1982.

The Rosetta Stone and my Password

Finally, I'm back to the blog. I could not remember which password I had for the school blog, and was even in the process of creating another one.
Thank heavens I remembered. I'm sure more than a few students and parents can relate.
While looking over the blog, I've decided to keep the routine a bit simpler:
I will update the class blogs with no pictures--just class requirements and what's due.
I'll include a story on the main blog (this one).
So what's with the Rosetta Stone? Just like my password, it was "lost" for a long time.
Discovered in 1798 by a group of leading French scientists in the Egyptian town of Rosetta, it was the "key" to unlocking the ancient language of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Up until about the 3rd century A.D. there were still those who could read heiroglyphs, but when they died the knowledge was lost.
Champillion devoted his life to the translation process--a combination of phonetics and symbols.
Napoleon's time in Egypt (though kicked out by Lord Nelson), prompted an Egyptian "craze," and soon Egyptian motifs cropped up in Empire style furniture!

Extra Credit Assignments

The snow days before December break decimated our AP Euro plan for getting through the French Revolution. Students in AP Euro need to work on the questions as planned for Chapter 20 (French Revolution). Check your GREEN SHEET for the assigned questions.
Students also had questions about extra credit--for AP Euro students extra credit will be offered for the viewing of only two films. You may do both for double the extra credit.

The first film is The Madness of King George--
In one page, summarize the concerns over the impact of King George's illness on his reign.

The second film is Amazing Grace--
In one page, summarize the different obstacles (and ways around the obstacles) that Wilberforce undertook to curtail the slave trade.