Hey! I’m back again to bring you historical happenings for the week of February 9th!-15th! I am also taking these ideas and sharing them on TikTok in a “Today in History” series! At the end of the week I will compile them into one video and add it to the post! I’m hoping that some tweens and teens will accidentally watch my videos and become curious about Social Studies or that I will just educate the general public! You can find me on TikTok  @andrearunnels.

I think of my “Historical Happenings” posts as TOP HITS of the week. As a person who is obsessed with acrostics you know TOP HITS stands for something! TOP HITS are thought-provoking historical events that occurred this week so that you can plan ahead. I’ll feature helpful ideas for integrating literacy, technology, and supporting all learners! These fun facts can be your saving grace in those transition moments, great lesson hooks, or the makings of morning work. I’ll be including significant events from across the spectrum including born on this day, battles, inventions, sports, scientific achievements, music, arts, pop culture and more! Lots of times they are stories that might not be as well-known of part of the causes that lead to really big effects! I have certain topics in history I geek out over so you may see stuff that I just personally thought was interesting.

Find out the interests of your students and use these tidbits as a way to build community and foster relationships with your new learners this year and spark further interest in history at the same time! Your token history nerd will appreciate them! You’re bound to at least have one! Many of my links are to history.com. I love this site. Mostly. What I don’t love is that the videos auto-play. My teenage son showed me a super helpful hack for this. Right click on the browser tab and opt to “mute site.” So I’m going to be referencing Flocabulary.com in this post. Don’t have a subscription? What are you doing with your life? Sign up for a free trial. You will fall in love! You might be asking yourself how to find certain historical events I talked about when they happened chronologically to teach about them when they fall into your curriculum timeline! Well. I decided to create a whole separate page on my website just for that purpose! I organized my posts by month! For example, you might not teach WWII until spring but I mentioned the Americans taking over Guadalcanal last week: https://www.thesocialstudieswhisperer.com/2020/02/historical-happenings-for-february-2nd-7th/. If you look under February on this new page, you will find the post! Here is a link to it: https://www.thesocialstudieswhisperer.com/historical-happenings/. I will be adding each new week’s post to the correct month! Let’s get going with this week in history! I created bullet points this week with the events! Tell me how you like the format!

February 9th

  • 1773- President William Henry Harrison was born. I really didn’t know that much about him until I researched this post. Turns out our 9th president is notable for several reasons. He was the last president to be born in England, had the longest inaugural address, and died of pneumonia after only 32 days in office!
  • 1825-John Quincy Adams is elected president by the House! Because there was no majority winner in the Electoral College, the 12th Amendment had to be implemented. This states that the House of Representatives picks the president but only from the top 3 candidates. Adams didn’t win the popular vote and that came back to bite him when he ran for re-election. Andrew Jackson defeated him easily the next time! It would be interesting to have students research other related presidents after mentioning this tidbit! Are you like me and know the Bill of Rights amendments but struggle with the rest? Well head to https://billofrightsinstitute.org/ to learn more info about the 12th Amendment!
  • 1942-Daylight savings time enacted. It was called “War Time.” That’s because it was during WWII. Well now it’s 2020. Ask your students to reflect on how they feel about time changes? Are they still necessary?
  • 1949-Michael Rogers is born. Well who is Michael Rogers? MY DAD!!!!
  • 1950-Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses over 200 members of the state department of being communists. Thus beginning the “Red Scare” which even resulted in witch hunts for communists in Hollywood. Turns out NOBODY McCarthy accused was ever found guilty of being a spy. SO much good figurative language with the Cold War. Have students sort my Cold War vocabulary cards into literal terms and figurative ones! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Cold-War-Vocabulary-Cards-3413047Also, check out this Flocabulary unit: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/cold-war/!
  • 1971-Satchel Paige becomes the first player from the Negro Leagues to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Learn more here: https://baseballhall.org/

February 10th

  • 1763-The French and Indian War, aka The Seven Years War, ends and the Treaty of Paris is signed. This war was all about power plays between the British and the French and who could claim territory in the New World. Um, it already was claimed by the Native Americans but European settlers didn’t care. The French were NOT happy with the outcome and were #bitter years later. That’s why they sided with the Patriots during the American Revolution. They were happy to see the British defeated! I learned a lot about the French and Indian War myself from this Flocabulary unit: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/french-indian-war/. If you don’t have a subscription, I hope that me showing you how much you can use one will convince you to check it out! It really makes history more engaging!
  • 1966-Consumer advocate Ralph Nader testifies before Congress about the automobile industry leading to more regulation. Nader was also outspoken about the food and drug industry as well as being having a few unsuccessful attempts at becoming a presidential candidate.
  • 1996-Garry Kasparov loses a chess game to a computer. This was just one piece of a 6 game battle that Kasparov ended up winning. Why do I think this is significant? That’s because it really started showing the power of technology and over 6 million people watched on the internet. This was pretty amazing considering the world wide web was in its infancy at the time!

February 11th

  • 1945-Yalta Conference Ends. At this point The OG Big Three (This is Us anybody?) were over it with WWII. Stalin, Churchill, and FDR came up with an action plan to end the war. They also started formulating plans for the United Nations.
  • 1990-Nelson Mandela is released from prison after 27 years. I have heard conflicting info about how many years it was. My History Channel source said 27. I think it would be interesting to compare and contrast Mandela’s civil rights journey in South Africa with Martin Luther King Jr’s quest here. This is a super catchy Flocabulary unit: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/3-mandela-is-free/.

February 12th

  • 1793-First Fugitive Slave Law was passed. It required slaves to be returned to their owners even if they were in free states at the time. It wasn’t really adhered to therefore a second Fugitive Slave Law was created as part of The Missouri Compromise years later.
  • 1909-The NAACP is formed. Integral in its creation were W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett. They decided on February 12th because it’s Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. I’m not sharing the obvious today in history moments because everyone knows President’s Day is celebrated in honor of Washington and Lincoln. I’m sharing lesser known facts!
  • 1938-Judy Blume is born. I can’t tell you how many times I read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and SuperFudge back in the day! Loved Judy Blume’s books!
  • 1973- “Operation Homecoming” begins. The last of the Vietnam Conflict POW’s are released starting on this day and ending on March 29th, 1973.

February 13th

  • 1633- Galileo accused of heresy and brought to Rome to stand trial. Normally I share predominantly American History facts. However, I think the story of Galileo is fascinating. What strength of character he showed. I have the book Starry Messenger by Peter Sis somewhere in my storage unit. It has beautiful illustrations. Look for it in your school library or on Amazon! It’s a great read aloud. What a great way to spark a discussion about other famous change-makers in history who held their ground despite obvious adversity. Um see above for Nelson Mandela.
  • 1861-Irish born Colonel Bernard J.D. Irwin becomes the first Medal of Honor award winner. Irwin gained accolades for his heroism and service as an Assistant Army surgeon during the U.S-Apache conflict.
  • 1905-Teddy Roosevelt gives a speech discussing the oppression of African Americans. His willingness to speak out against racial injustice paved the way for later presidents to pass Civil Rights legislation.
  • 1915-ASCAP founded. No, that’s not the ASPCA (cue the tears from the tear-jerking pet commercials). This organization is the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. This and a landmark Supreme Court case 2 years later set a precedent that creatives need to be paid for their work! It established copyrighting guidelines and protocol as well.
  • 1965 Operation Rolling Thunder approved by LBJ. That means we started sending troops to Vietnam. This decision was extremely controversial as many Americans felt we had no business being involved in the conflict. The Flocabulary unit is pretty intense (labeled 6th-12th grade). I wouldn’t show it multiple times to upper elementary students. Just once if you think it’s appropriate like I did. I didn’t assign it to my 5th grade class to watch on their own after I showed it once. Here is a link to it: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/vietnam-war/

February 14th

  • 1884-Teddy Roosevelt’s wife and mother both die within hours of each other. This tragedy shook Teddy to his core. He took off to South Dakota to recover. During this time in the Badlands he became interested in conservation and later created the National Park Service!
  • 1886-Oranges leave Los Angeles via railroad. You might wonder why this is notable. That’s because the transcontinental railroad was pretty new at this time and LA wasn’t the hub we know it to be. People began to associate the city as a place that was ahead of its time (because oranges are healthy) and the population boomed!

February 15th

  • 1898-The explosion of the U.S.S. Maine occurs in Havana. This event along with some sketchy journalism triggered the Spanish American War. Nobody really knows what happened to the ship. It’s highly likely it was a mechanical issue but it was proclaimed to be the doing of the Spanish with “Remember the Maine” being the battle cry of the Rough Riders and more!
  • 1903- Speaking of the Rough Riders, on this day Mr. TR’s image was softened a little with the first sales of the “Teddy Bear.”
  • 1933-Did you know there was a FDR assassination attempt in Miami? I didn’t until research today in history! Apparently an unemployed bricklayer was frustrated and took it out on the president. FDR managed to not be harmed but the mayor of Chicago who was in attendance that day was hit by one of the shooter’s bullets and passed away.
  • 1950-On a happy note, Disney classic Cinderella premieres in theatres paving the way for all of our favorite classics!

So clearly I have a history crush on Teddy Roosevelt. Why yes, he is my favorite president! Don’t forget to be on the lookout on TikTok and probably Instagram for daily tidbits! I hope you can use at least one of these facts to incorporate a little more Social Studies into your daily routine! I’m @andrearunnels in both places!  I’d love to have you join my Facebook group for Social Studies! It’s called Social Studies Salute. Find it quickly here: http://bit.ly/SocialStudiesSalute.

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