Monday, July 4, 2011

A Poem by Johnny Cash


RAGGED OLD FLAG

I walked through a county courthouse square,
On a park bench an old man was sitting there.
I said, "Your old courthouse is kinda run down."
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town."
I said, "Your flagpole has leaned a little bit,
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it.

He said, "Have a seat", and I sat down.
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is." He said, "I don't like to brag,
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag."

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing _Oh Say Can You See_.
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams."

"And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on through.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag."

"On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low by the time it was through.
She was in Korea and Vietnam.
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam."

"She waved from our ships upon the briny foam,
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home.
In her own good land she's been abused --
She's been burned, dishonored, denied and refused."

"And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin,
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more."

"So we raise her up every morning,
Take her down every night.
We don't let her touch the ground
And we fold her up right.
On second thought I DO like to brag,
'Cause I'm mighty proud of that Ragged Old Flag."

Written by Johnny Cash

Thursday, June 30, 2011

What Was It Like 100 Years Ago...

I received this in an email so I take no credit for the research behind it but I absolutely love this information.

THE YEAR IS 1911
This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
**********************************

* The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.
* Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.
* Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
* Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
* There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
* The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
* The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
* The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.
* The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
* A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year,and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
* More than 95 percent of all births took place at home.
* Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard".
* Sugar cost four cents a pound.
* Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
* Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
* Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
* Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

The Five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke


* The American flag had 45 stars.
* The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30.
* Crossword puzzles, canned beer and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.
* There was neither a Mother's Day nor a Father's Day.
* Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
* Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.
* Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health!" (Shocking?)
* Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
* There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

The Mysterious Roman Dodecahedron...

The great mystery of the dodecahedron may never be truly solved. Its name comes from the 12 sides it has but the true purpose of the object is baffling historians and archaeologists. Many laymen who read about the mystery gave their opinion which ranged from a fishing net weight, to an ancient paper weight. See if you can figure out what this Roman object was used for, post your comments...

Saturday, June 18, 2011

A Very Old Light Bulb

I never thought I would sit and actually write about the history of the life of a light bulb but truly that is the case in this situation. Guinness Records has recently verified that the bulb which sits in the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire-Department in California has been running strong for 110 years. The bulb was apparently donated by the Power and Light Company which manufactured it in 1901 when at the time light bulbs in a building were a new adventure. The 60-watt bulb's life has been attributed to good old fashioned  engineering. A website has even been created in order for people to follow the lifespan of this historic bulb.   http://www.centennialbulb.org/cam.htm

I highly recommend taking a moment and consider what was going on in society when this bulb was first manufactured. You be may surprised when you consider how long this bulb has been running.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

We Struggle With The Basics

Since 2006, students in the United States are unchanged in their basic understanding of history. It is scary to think that only 35% of fourth-graders know the purpose behind the Declaration of Independence. If there is anything I have tried to address through this blog at times is the importance of our founding ideals and documents. Without those basics ideals we fail to understand who we are and where we came from as a people. As a social studies teacher I take it upon myself to be the one who teaches students these basic ideals. Making history matter to the everyday student is continually a difficult task but one in which I take upon myself to excel at everyday. 

There are many other statistics which students from fourth-grade to twelve-grade fall short on. I challenge anyone which reads this to test your own knowledge and see how well you stack up. Go to the WSJ's link and see how much you know about our history... 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303714704576385370840592218.html#project%3DREPORTCARD1106%26articleTabs%3Darticle
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