Sonora Dodd first proposed her Father's Day idea in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day (much like Mother's Day) to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, a Civil War veteran, singlehandedly raised Dodd and her five siblings on a farm in rural Washington, af
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) was first observed in 1868 to honor the soldiers of the Civil War. Its origins can be traced back to General John A. Logan who proclaimed: "The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing
Groundhog Day folklore says if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow when he comes out of his burrow on February 2, there will be six more weeks of winter. If it is overcast, and the groundhog does not see his shadow, then spring must be near. How accurate is
In December of 2001, Congress passed a joint resolution permitting the President to declare September 11 of each year as Patriot Day, in commemoration of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. It is customary to fly the flag at half mast, and to
Created in 2002, Families and Work features four 9/11 lesson plans for K-12 students.
In August, 2002, Hoover Library-Museum (in Washington D.
This Library of Congress 9/11 commemorative exhibit includes "an abundance of original material including prints, photographs, drawings, poems, eye-witness accounts and personal reactions, headlines, books, magazines, songs, maps, videotapes and films.
The September 11 Digital Archive is another amazing retrospective, this one organized by City University of New York and George Mason University.
For high school students and adults, the Washington Post takes a look at the events of September 11 from today's vantage point.
April 22, 2006 is the thirty-sixth celebration of Earth Day. This year's theme is Climate Change as Earth Day Network embarks on a three-year campaign focusing on solutions to global warming. Although ideally everyday should be Earth Day, the annual holid
Since we're all Irish on St. Patrick's Day, here's a wee bit of history about our patron saint. St. Patrick was a Christian missionary credited with converting Ireland from paganism to Christianity. He lived at the end of the 4th century, and because that
Although the federal government still calls the holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February, Washington's Birthday, most people (and many states) call it Presidents' Day. Presidents' Day began as a holiday honoring George Washington and then both W