Today in history

[Алексей Конобеев]

Sometimes telling about pupils about interesting and important events that took place on a certain day can be a good lead-in or an excellent time-filler.

here are a few events that occurred on march 22:

In 1895 the Lumiere brothers demonstrated the first motion picture in Paris using celluloid film.

 

"The Lumières held their first private screening of projected motion pictures in 1895.[4] Their first public screening of films at which admission was charged was held on December 28, 1895, at Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris. This history-making presentation featured ten short films, including their first film, Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory). Each film is 17 meters long, which, when hand cranked through a projector, runs approximately 50 seconds.

The world's first film poster, for 1895's L'Arroseur Arrosé

 

It is believed their first film was actually recorded that same year (1895) with Léon Bouly's cinématographe device, which was patented the previous year. The cinématographe — a three-in-one device that could record, develop, and project motion pictures — was further developed by the Lumières.

 

The public debut at the Grand Café came a few months later and consisted of the following ten short films (in order of presentation):

 

1. La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon (literally, "the exit from the Lumière factories in Lyon", or, under its more common English title, Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory), 46 seconds

2. La Voltige ("Horse Trick Riders"), 46 seconds

3. La Pêche aux poissons rouges ("fishing for goldfish"), 42 seconds

4. Le Débarquement du Congrès de Photographie à Lyon ("the disembarkment of the Congress of Photographers in Lyon"), 48 seconds

5. Les Forgerons ("Blacksmiths"), 49 seconds

6. Le Jardinier (l'Arroseur Arrosé) ("The Gardener," or "The Sprinkler Sprinkled"), 49 seconds

7. Le Repas (de bébé) ("Baby's Breakfast"), 41 seconds

8. Le Saut à la couverture ("Jumping Onto the Blanket"), 41 seconds

9. La Place des Cordeliers à Lyon ("Cordeliers Square in Lyon"--a street scene), 44 seconds

10. La Mer (Baignade en mer) ("the sea [bathing in the sea]"), 38 seconds"

 

You can watch the "Exiting the factory" film here:

 

 

Also on March 22 in 1457 the first printed book appeared. this book was the Gutenber Bible. You can see its pages here: http://www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.html

Interestingly, the first rpinted book in English came out in 1471, and it was printed by Caxton. The book was The Recuyell of the Histories of Troy, translated by caxton himself from the French original of Raoul Lefèvre.

[Алексей Конобеев]

On March 23, 1839 the Boston newspaper The Morning Post was the first newspaper ever to use the contraction OK. According to one version, this was a parody on how some people spell "oll korrect". Whatever it was, now everyone who speaks English knows what OK means. So we can rightfully call today the OK day. OK?

[Алексей Конобеев]

On March 24 in 1603 the King of Scotland James IV, the sone of the executed Mary Stuart, succeeded the late Queen Elizabeth I of England and became King James I of England. He was the first monarch to call himself King of Great Britain, although officially the two kingdoms were not united until the Union Act passed almost a hundred years later under Queen Anne.

[Fortuna]

On March 31, 1917, the U.S. took formal possession of the Danish West Indies. Renamed the Virgin Islands, this chain consists of St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John and about fifty other small islands, most of which are uninhabited. Lying about sixty-five kilometers east of Puerto Rico at the end of the Greater Antilles, the U.S. purchased the islands from Denmark for $25 million because of their strategic location in relation to the Panama Canal.

 

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/today.html

[Владислав]

History archives are comprised of over 200,000 important events, famous and celebrity birthdays and famous deaths from the past six thousand years. The archive is fully searchable, both by date and by keyword, via our today in history search engine - http://www.historyorb.com/

[Fortuna]

History archives are comprised of over 200,000 important events, famous and celebrity birthdays and famous deaths from the past six thousand years. The archive is fully searchable, both by date and by keyword, via our today in history search engine - http://www.historyorb.com/

Владислав, спасибо за ещё одну полезную ссылку!

[tam]

History archives are comprised of over 200,000 important events, famous and celebrity birthdays and famous deaths from the past six thousand years. The archive is fully searchable, both by date and by keyword, via our today in history search engine - http://www.historyorb.com/

Замечательный сайт! Столько всего нужного! Спасибо.

[Владислав]

Замечательный сайт! Столько всего нужного! Спасибо.

 

Всегда пожалуйста!!! Удачи в работе!!!

[Алексей Конобеев]

On this day in 1982 the Argentinian troops landed on the then-disputed Falkland Islands, which started the Falklands War between the UK and Argentina. Here's information from Wikipedia about this sad event:

"The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur), also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom (UK) over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The Falkland Islands consist of two large and many small islands in the South Atlantic Ocean east of Argentina; their name and sovereignty over them have long been disputed.

 

The Falklands War started on Friday, 2 April 1982 with the Argentine invasion and occupation of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982. The war lasted 74 days, and resulted in the deaths of 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors, and airmen, and three civilian Falklanders. It is the most recent conflict to be fought by the UK without any allied states and the only external Argentine war since the 1880s.

 

The conflict was the result of a protracted diplomatic confrontation regarding the sovereignty of the islands. Neither state officially declared war and the fighting was largely limited to the territories under dispute and the South Atlantic. The initial invasion was characterised by Argentina as the re-occupation of its own territory, and by the UK as an invasion of a British dependent territory" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falklands_War

[Алексей Конобеев]

On April 1606 England adopted the Union Jack as its flag. This is what Wikipedia says about the current flag:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland uses as its national flag the royal banner known as the Union Flag or, popularly, Union Jack.[1] The current design of the Union Flag dates from the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801. It consists of the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England), edged in white, superimposed on the Cross of St Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which are superimposed on the Saltire of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland). Wales, however, is not represented in the Union Flag by Wales' patron saint, Saint David.

 

Its correct proportions are 1:2. However, the version officially used by the British Army modifies the proportions to 3:5, and additionally two of the red diagonals are cropped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom

When James VI, King of Scots, inherited the thrones of England and Ireland and was crowned James I of England in 1603, the crowns of the Kingdom of England (which included the Kingdom of Ireland and, since 1535, Wales), and the Kingdom of Scotland were united in a personal union through him. Despite this Union of the Crowns, each kingdom remained an independent state.[9]

 

On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England (also representing Wales by implication), (a red cross with a white background, known as St. George's Cross), and the flag of Scotland (a white saltire with a blue background, known as the Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross), would be "joined together according to the forme made by our heralds, and sent by Us to our Admerall to be published to our Subjects."[3] forming the flag of Great Britain and first union flag. This royal flag was at first only for use at sea on civil and military ships of both Scotland and England.[11] In 1634, King Charles I restricted its use to the monarch's ships.[12] (Land forces continued to use their respective national banners.) After the Acts of Union 1707, the flag gained a regularised status as "the ensign armorial of the Kingdom of Great Britain", the newly created state. It was then adopted by land forces as well, although the blue field used on land-based versions more closely resembled that of the blue of the flag of Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag

 

Here you can find very detailed instructions for drawing the flag accurately: http://www.jdawiseman.com/papers/union-jack/union-jack.html

And here British children tell th estory of the flag: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/ge.../unionjack.html

[Алексей Конобеев]

The first Poet-Laureate ever was appointed on April 13 in 1668. In case you wonder who it was, well, it was John Dryden.

Poet Laureate (plural: Poets Laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events.

 

In the United Kingdom the term has for centuries been the title of the official poet of the monarch, since the time of Charles II. Poets laureate are appointed by many countries. In Britain there is also a Children's Laureate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poet_Laureate

John Dryden (9 August 1631 – 12 May 1700) was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dryden

[пять гор]

is there such a poet in russia?

[Алексей Конобеев]

is there such a poet in russia?

We don't have such titles, I think

[Алексей Конобеев]

On April 14th (3rd o. s.) the British ambassador in St. Petersburg started writing a series of letters to the then Prime Minister James Stanhope expressing great concern about Russia becoming a strong power.

 

"I now beg leave to entertain your lordship with another set of people, who because the Tsar greatly favours them, have got here the nickname of chips by those that envy them, but by others are called ship-builders; these in my humble opinion (if continued long in this service) will not fail of setting the Czar on such a footing as will enable him to bid fair for the mastery in the East-sea. One of them assured me lately that if the Czar lives three years longer, he will have at sea a fleet of forty ships of the line from seventy to ninety guns each, as good as any the world can afford, besides twenty frigates from thirty to forty cannon each, all built at this place; these people the Czar flatters as much as possible: their salaries are large and punctually paid, they eat in private with him, they sit at his table in the greatest assemblies, and he hardly goes anywhere or takes any diversion but some of them accompany him. By these caresses the Czar means to captivate their affections so as to engage them not to quit him; but whether it will be for the interest of Great Britain to be a spectator of so growing a power as this, especially at sea, and brought about by her own subjects, I humbly submit to your lordship’s consideration. Might I presume to give my opinion, it is high time that they be called out of service. Here are five master-builders besides worklings, all british [sic] subjects; three are masters reckoned as good carpenters as any we have in Great-Britain, and considering that all of them are good subjects, and well affected to His Majesty’s government, I doubt not if some small equivalent were offered them in England for what they lose here, but would take the resolution of returning home, and a severe proclamation issued at the same time against all subjects not returning, would furnish them a good excuse for so doing, after all the favours bestowed on them here, they would otherwise be as much to seek for, as anything I know. I humbly hope your lordship will excuse this freedom, which I had not presumed to take, were I not persuaded that what I have said will be of advantage and for the interest of Great-Britain, and that some method ought to be thought on in time for hindering the Czar from settling his dominions over those seas."

 

In July 1719 the ambassador wrote to the prime Minister persuading him to remove the British ship-builders from Russia in order to prevent Russia from beoming a strong naval power:

 

"The necessity of recalling them from hence beyond any other artificers will appear if their excellencies consider what the Tsar’s fleet was a few years ago, what it is now, and what it is like to be in a few years to come. The Czar’s fleet consisted 6 years ago of such ships as were either bought in foreign countries or built at Archangel by hollanders [sic] which amounted to 17 or 18 in number; but these being for several reasons disapproved, ship yards were made at St. Petersburg and they began to build His Czarish Majesty’s ships-of-war at that place."

 

There letters are an excellent example of diplomacy of those times, aren't they?

[Алексей Конобеев]

On April 20 in 1864 an experiment was sucessfully completed by a French chemist and microbioligist. This experiment changed the way we live forever. Not only it helped to save many people from starvation and food poisonings, but it also gave us plenty of chances to try such foods which otherwise couldn't travel to our place. The scientist's name was Louis Pasteur, and the process of making food safer is named pasteurization (or pasteurisation) after him.

As an encyclopedia tell us, "Pasteurization is a process which slows microbial growth in food. The process was named after its creator, French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. The first pasteurization test was completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard on April 20, 1864. The process was originally conceived as a way of preventing wine and beer from souring.

Pasteurization is not intended to destroy all pathogenic micro-organisms in the food or liquid. Instead, pasteurization aims to reduce the number of viable pathogens so they are unlikely to cause disease (assuming pasteurization product is stored as indicated and consumed before its expiration date). Commercial-scale sterilisation of food is not common because it adversely affects the taste and quality of the product. Certain food products are processed to achieve the state of commercial sterility." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurization

 

This was by far not the only discovery made by Louis Pasteur. For his numerous services to science and mankind he was honoured during his lifetime and revered now.

 

"Pasteur won the Leeuwenhoek medal, microbiology's highest Dutch honor in Arts and Sciences, in 1895. He was a Grand Croix of the Legion of Honor–one of only 75 in all of France. Both Institute Pasteur and Université Louis Pasteur were named after him.

In many localities worldwide, there are streets named in his honor. For example, in the USA: the Medical school at Stanford University, Palo Alto and Irvine, California, Boston, Massachusetts and Polk, Florida, adjacent to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; Jonquière, Québec; San Salvador de Jujuy and Buenos Aires (Argentina), GreatYarmouth in Norfolk, in the United Kingdom, Jericho and Wulguru in Queensland, (Australia); Phnom Penh in Cambodia; Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; Batna in Algeria; Bandung in Indonesia, Tehran in Iran, Milan in Italy and Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest in Romania.

In his honor, there is a statue for him located on the campus of San Rafael High School in San Rafael, Califorina. Also there is a Pasteur institute in Ootakamund, a hill station in south India, which is involved in vaccine trials and also rabies diagnosis." You can read more about this amazing man here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur

[Алексей Конобеев]

Do you know which of the British monarchs has been nicknamed "King Billy"? It is William III, who was crowned on this day, April 21 (new style), in 1689.

By birth William wouldn't be very near the English throne at all. "William Henry of Orange was born in The Hague in the Dutch Republic on 14 November 1650.[4] He was the only child of stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal. Mary was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, and sister of King Charles II and King James II & VII.

Eight days before William's birth, his father died from smallpox; thus William was the Sovereign Prince of Orange from the moment of his birth."

But after the Anglo-Dutch war Oliver Cromwell insisted that there should be no Stadtholders in Holland any more, so William was not the ruler of the country. Still, in 1670 William became the commander-in-chief of the Dutch armies. And in 1672, after a Franco-Dutch and the Third Anglo-Dutch war, he was appointed the stadtholder by the States of Holland.

William was q rather successful military and state leader, so in spiote o fthe Anglo-Dutch war he married Mary Stuart, his cousin and daughter of Fames, Duke of York. This gave him a chance to become King of England. Though very unwilling at first, Charles II gave his consent to this marriage.

His father-in-law was catholic, and by law a Catholic cannot occupy the English throne. So when James, Duke of York, became King James II of England in 1685, the situation about the throne was quite shaky. In 1687 William wrote a letter to English protestants telling them that he disapproved of james II's religious policies. In June 1688 a group of prominent public figures sent William a letter inviting him to invade England. The invasion began on November 5, 1688. On December 23 James II escaped to France and left England for ever.

The Parliament decided that England would be ruled jointly by William III and his wife Mary II. William and Mary were crowned together at Westminster Abbey on 11 April (old style) 1689. They also accepted the Scottish crown on May 11.

Mary II died of smallpox in 1694, leaving William III to rule alone. William deeply mourned his wife's death. Despite his conversion to Anglicanism, William's popularity plummeted during his reign as a sole Sovereign.

In 1702, William died of pneumonia, a complication from a broken collarbone, resulting from a fall off his horse, Sorrel.

 

Read more about William III of England here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England

[Алексей Конобеев]

Today, April 23rd, is the birthday of the Order of the Garter. The Order is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England's Patron Saint, and is presently bestowed on recipients from British and other realms; it is the pinnacle of the honours system in the United Kingdom. Membership in the order is limited to the sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four members, or Companions; the order also comprises Supernumerary knights and ladies (e.g., members of the British Royal Family and foreign monarchs). Bestowing the honour has been described as one of the Monarch's few remaining truly personal, executive prerogatives.

The Complete Peerage, under "The Founders of the Order of the Garter", states the order was first instituted on 23 April 1344, listing each founding member as knighted in 1344.

Various legends account for the origin of the Order. The most popular legend involves the "Countess of Salisbury" (probably either his future daughter-in-law Joan of Kent or her former mother-in-law, Catherine Montacute, Countess of Salisbury). While she was dancing with or near King Edward at Eltham Palace, her garter is said to have slipped from her leg. When the surrounding courtiers sniggered, the king picked it up and tied it to his leg, exclaiming, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," ("Shamed be the person who thinks evil of it."), the phrase that has become the motto of the Order.[8] According to another legend, King Richard I was inspired in the 12th century by St George the Martyr while fighting in the Crusades to tie garters around the legs of his knights, who subsequently won the battle. King Edward supposedly recalled the event in the 14th century when he founded the Order.[7] Another explanation is that the motto refers to Edward's claim to the French throne, and the Order of the Garter was created to help pursue this claim. The use of the garter as an emblem may have derived from straps used to fasten armour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Garter

[Алексей Конобеев]

170 years ago, on May 6, 1840, the first postal stamp, Penny Black, was used. This changed postal services everywhere in the world into what we are used to these days.

Of course, letters could be sent before 1840. In fact, in England it was in 1516 that the first Master of the Posts was appointed by king Henry VIII and Royal mail was established. The postal serviced could be used only by the Royal family and members of the Royal court, and it ran only between Plymouth and London. On 31 of July in 1635 King Charles I allowed general public to use postal service too.

But until 1840 sending letters was different from today's procedure. First of all, letters were sent without envelopes. To use an envelope meant using another sheet of paper and that was expensive. So people just folded their letter so that the address was on the outside, then they gave it to the postman, who marked it with a special mark, in ink, and the letter would be taken to the addressee. The standard postmark which had the day and the month when the letter was accepted by the postal service, was invented by the Postmaster General Henry Bishop in 1661, and this postmark was called Bishop mark. Anyway, this was how letters were sent in those days. It was the addressee who paid for the letter then! And because the rates in those days were very high (they were calculated by the distance travelled and the number of sheets in the letter) , many people refused to accept leters. Some people even developed special codes so that the addressee could look at the marks on the envelope, get all the important information from them and then refuse to pay for the unopened letter. This was why the senders were made to pay for whatever they sent by post.

Finally, it was a schoolmaster who invented the postal stamp which you can glue on an envelope. The schoolmaster's name was Rowland Hill. He proved that to transport a letter from one place to another is in fact very cheap, and that it is better to charge for the weight of the letter than for the number of sheets. These suggestions were accepted, the new cost of letters was a penny per half ounce, and in January 1849 the roform began. The first stamp, penny Black, was officially released and used on May 6 1840, it was black in colour, it cost (yes, you've guessed it!) one penny and had the profile of Queen Victoria on it. The first two-pence stamp was released on May 8, and the system turned out to ge a huge success. Eventually in 1860 Mr Hill was knighted and became Sir Rowland Hill. The second country that issued stamps was Brazil, and it happened on on July 1, 1843. The first stamps in the USA were printed in 1847. They were a 5-cent stamp with the picture of Benjamin Franklin and a 10-cents stamp with the picture of George Washington.

Russia began to use stamps in 1857.

The first stamps were not perforated. This means that you had to sut them out with scissors. But they already had glue on the back, so they were easy to attach to envelopes. And in 1854 the first perforated stamps appeared.

Of course, the history of postal service and various methods of payments used in different countries is much bigger and immensely interesting. But today is a good day to say thank you to Sir Rowland Hill, to Queen Victoria dna also to those who work to deliver letters to us. And maybe to sit down to write a letter to your relatives or friends?

[Алексей Конобеев]

On May 20 in 1553 an event happened that brought Russia and England into direct and official contact and lead to official relations between the two countries.

An association of English merchants, the Company of Merchants-Adventurers, as it was called according to th echarter, issued by King Edward VI, sent three ships to discover a North-East passage in the hopre of finding a shorter was and better access to the goods from Asia. The ships were commanded by Sir Hugh Willoughby, but it was the second-in-command who made the relations between Russia and England possible. This ma's name is Richard Chancellor.

When the expedition was passing Lapland, a storm separated the ships. Sir Hugh Willoughby with two ships went east and discovered Novaya Zemlya, but he and all his men died on the Lapland coast. The third ship had more luch. Led by Richard Chancellor, it reached the city of Archangelsk.

This was the time when tsar Ivan the terrible was reigning in Russia, and all important events were reported to him immediately. Tsar Ivan the terrible sent for Chancellor and so Richard was brought to Moscow. He was given a royal audience and told tsar Ivan about a new route to England.

As Richard Chancellor told, Moscow was much larger than London in those times, but because most houses were built from wood, he thought that they were primitive. He admired the luxury of the tsar's palace and the abundance of the royal feasts and he traded English wool for Russian furs and other goods. Ivan the Terrible sent a letter to King Edawrd VI with Richard Chancellor and gave priviliges to the trading company, which broke the monopoly of the Hanseatic League.

In 1556 Richard Chancellor and the first Russian ambassador to England, Osip Nepeja, parted for London. They arrived on April 18 and that was the end of a big adventure for Richard Chancellor and the start for official relations between Russia and England.

[Алексей Конобеев]

Daylight Saving Time, British Summer Time and British Standard Time - all of these terms first came together on May 21 in 1916, when Britain used British Summer Time, or Daylight Saving Time for the first time in its history, just a few weeks after Germany did the same. All clocks in Britain went one hour ahead of GMT, Greenwich Mean Time on this day according to a special Act of Parliament.

But who proposed this idea? Actually, the first man to propose the idea of daylight saving time was benjamin Franklin, who wrote about it in an article in 1784. Very few people were impressed by the proposal at the time, so th eidea had to wait for more than a hundred years. Probably it was so because there was no standard time or time zones in different places, many towns lived on their own time and it was not until the fast railway transport made it very difficult to put together timetables in the 19th century, when people began to feel the need for standards in time.

In 1907 an Englishman, William Willett, tried to persuade everyone that the clocks need to advance 1 hour 20 minutes for the summer and in autumn return to GMT, but the House of Commons rejected the proposed bill in 1908. However, finally, in 1916, the parliamentaries let themselves to be persuaded and a special Act was passed so that all clocks could be set one hour ahead of GMT. Some people say that this was done to save fuel and energy because Britain was fighting Germany in the first World war and anything that could help the country's economy was very welcome indeed. The newspapers widely reported the novelty both on May 21 when the change was made, and in the autumn when the normal time was restored.

During the Second World War Britain used double summer time, that is, the clocks were set two hours ahead of GMT for the summer.

Needless to say, the transition to Summer Time, or Daylight Saving Time, sometimes brought a lot of confusion all over the world. For example, in November 2007 a woman named Laura Cirioli of North Carolina gave birth to two twins, one was born 1:32 am and the other 34 minutes later,. But since at 2 am the country returned to standard time, the second twin was registered as born at 1.05 and officially became the older of the two. Likewise, all trains cannot leave stations ahead of scheduled time, so at 2 am in November, when the country returns to standard time, all trains have to stop for one hour to keep the schedule.

Once the transition on DST saved many lives. In 1999 in Israel some terrorists prepared time bombs (bombs that were to go off at a certain time) and sent them to their assistants. the assistants forgot about the time change and the bombs went off one hour early killing the terrirists themselves instead of the two buses full of people that the bombs were intended for.

people still argue whether Daylight Saving Time is a good or a bad idea. But it is used in many countries, including Antarctica, and the UK has been using it for almost a hundred years now. And the whole thing for the British started on this day in 1916.

[Алексей Конобеев]

Do your students like English songs and poems? Perhaps you have sometimes read some nursery rhymes in class, or read them regularly. When it comes to many such rhymes, their origines and dates are lost, but today, on May 24, is the anniversary of a very famous rhyme, the history of which we do know.

The poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was first published 180 years ago, on May 24th in 1830, by Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book. This poem was inspired by an actual incident.

A girl called Mary Sawyer (later Mrs. Mary Tyler) kept a pet lamb, which she took to school one day, as her brother suggested. This was a very unusual thing to do, and later the girl told this:

"Visiting school that morning was a young man by the name of John Roulstone, a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel Capen, who was then settled in Sterling. It was the custom then for students to prepare for college with ministers, and for this purpose Mr. Roulstone was studying with his uncle. The young man was very much pleased with the incident of the lamb; and the next day he rode across the fields on horseback to the little old schoolhouse and handed me a slip of paper which had written upon it the three original stanzas of the poem..."

In the 1830s, Lowell Mason set the nursery rhyme to a melody adding repetition in the verses:

 

Mary had a little lamb,

little lamb, little lamb,

Mary had a little lamb,

whose fleece was white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went,

Mary went, Mary went,

and everywhere that Mary went,

the lamb was sure to go.

 

It followed her to school one day

school one day, school one day,

It followed her to school one day,

which was against the rules.

It made the children laugh and play,

laugh and play, laugh and play,

it made the children laugh and play

to see a lamb at school.

 

And so the teacher turned it out,

turned it out, turned it out,

And so the teacher turned it out,

but still it lingered near,

And waited patiently about,

patiently about, patiently about,

And waited patiently about

till Mary did appear.

 

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"

Love Mary so? Love Mary so?

"Why does the lamb love Mary so,"

the eager children cry.

"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know."

The lamb, you know, the lamb, you know,

"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"

the teacher did reply.

 

You can see the text of the song and listen to the music here: http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/mary.htm

 

It was this poem that was chosen by Thomas Edison to test his newly-invented phonograph in 1877, so it became the second known audio recording.

 

If you want to hear some music and songs recorder in the early 1910-s, go here: http://www.cyberbee.com/edison/cylinder.html

[Алексей Конобеев]

On May 27 (May 16th old style) in 1703 Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg. This happened shortly after a series of significant victories in the Northern War. In November 1702 Peter's army took the fortress Noteburg (Oreshek), which Peter renamed as Key-Town, or Shlusselburg. On May 1, 1703, the Russian army took the Swedish fortress Nensants and Russian forces were now in control of all the length of the Neva River. The army needed a new fortress to protect the new lands and to become the basis for further progress, so Peter chose the Island of Enisaari (Hare’s Island) as a building site.

The legend has it that an eagle flew down and showed peter where to build the new city. the Tsar cut two strips of turf with his bayonet and put them together in the shape of a cross. Then he made another cross from two bits of wood and put it into the ground next to the turf cross. This was where he was going to build a church, concecrated in the names of the apostles Peter and Paul.

The first house was a tiny wooden one, built for the Tsar. The construction was done by soldiers and took three days. By the end of the summer 1703 the original clay walls and bastions of the city were complete, and over 120 cannons were installed there. Apart from the fortress and the houses, Peter founded the Admiralty, a shipyard, and there was also an inn called the Four Frigates. This was the beginning of hundreds of years of labour and majesty.

 

Our heartfelt best wishes go to all citizens of St Petersburg on account of the city's 307th birthday.

[Алексей Конобеев]

On June 2, 1953 the young Princess Elizabeth was crowned Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Today is the 57-th anniversary of her coronation, but she ascended the throne more than a month before after her father, King george VI, died on February 6, 1952.

Read BBC report ob the coronation here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/s...000/2654501.stm

View a video report of the Coronation here:

A detailed and colourful documentary about the Coronation and its tradition starts here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxuYJ1Udm5E

And here you can see pictures of what was happening (including some very unexpected problems with the coronation!) on that rainy day in England: http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Engla...onation1953.htm and http://www.trooping-the-colour.co.uk/coronation/index.htm

[Алексей Конобеев]

On June 4, 1800 the first resident moved into the White House, Pennssylvania Avenue 1600, Washington DC. The first residents were John Adams and his wife.

Construction of the house began in 1792, shortly after George Washington signed an act of Congress declaring that the federal government would be situated on a plot of land no more than 10 square miles on the bank of the river Potomac.

Since then all US presidents have lived in the White House. In 1814 the British troops set fire to the building, but it survived the attack. There was also a fire in 1929, but this time not because of military action. Although much of the interior of the house was changed in late 1940s, the exterior is still the same.

Today, the White House Complex includes the Executive Residence, West Wing, Cabinet Room, Roosevelt Room, East Wing, and the Old Executive Office Building, which houses the executive offices of the President and Vice President.

 

You can read more about the history of the White House, see photos and videos of it on its official website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/

 

If anyone's intetesred, I can attach photos of the White House (from the outside) that I took in 2005, so that you could use those photos in your presentations or lessons.

[Алексей Конобеев]

On June 8 in 1824 a washing machine was patented by Noah Cushing in Quebec. It certainly wasn't the last model of the washing machine, but was it the first? The answer is "No". As a matter of fact, the first English patent under the category of Washing and Wringing Machines was issued in 1691. Washing machines as a technical device were interesting not only for women. A drawing of an early washing machine appeared in the January 1752 issue of "The Gentlemen's Magazine," a British publication. In Germany, Jacob Christian Schäffer's washing machine design was published in 1767. In 1782 Henry Sidgier was issued a British patent for a rotating drum washer. So we see that Noah Cushing's machine was just another benchmark in the long line of washing devices, which began with the washboard and washing soap (washing soaps were known as early as in Ancient Rome).

In 1843 John E. Turnbull of Saint John, New Brunswick invented a device which combined a washing machine and a wringer (a mechanism consisting of two rolls used to get rid of water in the washed clothes). Of course, all these early washing machines were manually-operated.

 

Electric washing machines were advertised and discussed in newspapers as early as 1904. And very soon automatic laundries (or laundromats) appeared. The first laundromat opened in Fort Worth, Texas in 1934. This took further the idea of public wash rooms, which England established for laundry along with bath houses throughout the nineteenth century.

 

One way or another, 8 June, 1824 brought yet another aid to women who know only too well how much time and efforts washing clothes may require.