Thursday, January 27, 2011

Six.

Hello all! I felt so special after a couple people asked me when I was updating next. I felt so wanted!
I've been busy lately with my American history class, and since I'm not particularly enjoying my other classes, I have been focusing on this, going above and beyond to really learn my American history. One of my goals by next week is to learn all of the capitols of the fifty states. It sounds dorky, but the last time most of us were tested on it was 7th grade... and I didn't like history and geography back then - so I never actually learned them! I figured it was just one of those basic things I need to know to be a teacher someday, so flashcards are made and I have already started testing myself.
This is my fun thing - try to learn a Wakko song to help me!




Anyways, back to what I have learned lately.

1) In the colonial times, the Europeans brought over their domestic animals, including cows, horses, and pigs. By 1650, English farm animals outnumbered the colonists. Since labor was so expensive, the animals ran wild, devastating local plant life. One historian called this the "greatest known loss of wild species" in our continent's history.

2) In the 17th century Virginia, there were so many more men in the colonies that the sex ratio was thrown off. It was 3 men to 1 woman, but if you just counted unmarried folks, it was about 8 men to 1 woman.


3) England is old and small, and they started running out of places to bury the dead. So, they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on their wrist and lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence on the "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was "saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer."

If you have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail...
BUT I"M NOT DEAD YET!

4) At Andrew Jackson's funeral in 1845, his pet parrot, named Poll, had to be removed because it was swearing.

5) Christmas did not become a national holiday in the US until 1890. The founders of the United States did not believe a Christian holiday should be so important to our country when initially founded.


Have a good weekend guys!

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