Next in line for my posts on presidents:
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Ulysses S. Grant
These aren't going in order of election, they are more in order of interest. I prefer the older generation of the United States when it comes to history so i always start there first.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Band of Brothers
I just recently started a new mini-series with my husband called Band of Brothers. It is a nine episode series about the 101st Airborne division in WWII. I just finished the first episode last night i can already tell i'm going to need tissues. Its one thing reading about it in a book, but seeing the faces of these men that fought along side each other going through this traumatic war is another thing.
It is movies like this that remind me why we are such a great country. I don't ever want to lose that feeling and it makes me angry when people don't appreciate what they have in america. We are lucky to be able to have the option to say, "I don't agree with that." We are lucky to be able to choose what religion we want, to eat where we want, to be able to start our own business, to talk to who we want, when we want. While things might not be perfect all the time and we may not always be happy with the way things are going, we are still very lucky. I wish more people would think about these things rather than sitting idly by watching the world slowly pass them. Eventually you are going to have to answer for your actions, so make them good ones.
Now that i'm done with that tangent, please watch Band of Brothers if you haven't already :)
It is movies like this that remind me why we are such a great country. I don't ever want to lose that feeling and it makes me angry when people don't appreciate what they have in america. We are lucky to be able to have the option to say, "I don't agree with that." We are lucky to be able to choose what religion we want, to eat where we want, to be able to start our own business, to talk to who we want, when we want. While things might not be perfect all the time and we may not always be happy with the way things are going, we are still very lucky. I wish more people would think about these things rather than sitting idly by watching the world slowly pass them. Eventually you are going to have to answer for your actions, so make them good ones.
Now that i'm done with that tangent, please watch Band of Brothers if you haven't already :)
Presidents: Abraham Lincoln!!
Abraham Lincoln was another president that truly inspires me. Even through a grueling depression he still managed to shape this nation into what it is today. If you haven't watched the special the History Channel did on him in Civil War Week, you should check it out.
Here are some really cool facts about Abraham Lincoln...
He was the first ever president with a beard!
He was 6ft 4!
He had a pet Turkey!
He would hide documents on top of his head, inside his hat.
He almost died when he got kicked in the head by a horse.
He was the only president to ever hold a patent. He patented a device that lifted boats over shoals.
He has some really interesting coincidences with president Kennedy, please google it. :)
He was a very good wrestler.
His son was saved from a train accident by the brother of his fathers killer.
He dreamed his death a week before it happened.
He held seances in the White House trying to contact his dead sons and other loved ones.
He made a speech at the Illinois Republican Convention which was said to be his best ever, but no records of it exist.
I think Lincoln would be one of the most interesting presidents to meet. He seems like one of the more down to earth presidents. He struggled with depression his entire life, and even had to be on suicide watch a times, but he still did so many great things for the country. He led us through the Civil War and even the abolishing of slavery. There are accounts of people he worked with in the white house who say he had the funniest jokes, i bet he had very funny laugh too! As i read about him i find all these interesting quirks he had that make him so unique.
These are just some of the reasons why i think Lincoln was a great president, and its only the tip of the iceberg. I'll leave you with a quote from him that i really like, "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Here are some really cool facts about Abraham Lincoln...
He was the first ever president with a beard!
He was 6ft 4!
He had a pet Turkey!
He would hide documents on top of his head, inside his hat.
He almost died when he got kicked in the head by a horse.
He was the only president to ever hold a patent. He patented a device that lifted boats over shoals.
He has some really interesting coincidences with president Kennedy, please google it. :)
He was a very good wrestler.
His son was saved from a train accident by the brother of his fathers killer.
He dreamed his death a week before it happened.
He held seances in the White House trying to contact his dead sons and other loved ones.
He made a speech at the Illinois Republican Convention which was said to be his best ever, but no records of it exist.
I think Lincoln would be one of the most interesting presidents to meet. He seems like one of the more down to earth presidents. He struggled with depression his entire life, and even had to be on suicide watch a times, but he still did so many great things for the country. He led us through the Civil War and even the abolishing of slavery. There are accounts of people he worked with in the white house who say he had the funniest jokes, i bet he had very funny laugh too! As i read about him i find all these interesting quirks he had that make him so unique.
These are just some of the reasons why i think Lincoln was a great president, and its only the tip of the iceberg. I'll leave you with a quote from him that i really like, "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
August session
I just ordered my books today for school and i am super excited. YAY :)
If you haven't watched the Gettysburg series on the history channel that was on a few weeks ago you should buy it from their website now. It has SO much information on Gettysburg as well as a four hour special on Abraham Lincoln. He will be my next post in my Presidents series that i will post later this week.
SO, do you know the presidents in chronological order of election? If you don't, you should google it and learn them. :)
If you haven't watched the Gettysburg series on the history channel that was on a few weeks ago you should buy it from their website now. It has SO much information on Gettysburg as well as a four hour special on Abraham Lincoln. He will be my next post in my Presidents series that i will post later this week.
SO, do you know the presidents in chronological order of election? If you don't, you should google it and learn them. :)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Today in History!!
THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 1389 > Geoffrey Chaucer is named chief clerk by Richard II. 1861 > Confederacy signs treaties with Native Americans. 1862 > Medal of Honor created. 1957 > A new Aga Khan. 1984 > Ferraro named vice presidential candidate. 1965 > First Marine wins Medal of Honor. 1990 > Yeltsin resigns from Communist Party. 1998 > France beats Brazil to win FIFA World Cup.
Everyone that loves history needs to like The History Channel on facebook to get these updates everyday! I think if you go on the site you can even get them by email. Some days are so interesting :)
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history Is where you can look for them on the History channel website.
I am also going to start getting the History Channel magazines every month, very excited!
Their website has some seriously interesting stuff, and their shop has ALL the history dvd's i could ever want. I'm going to start sifting through some their stuff to see what i'm going to get for my birthday. :)
I wonder if they sell life size George Washington posters? ;)
Everyone that loves history needs to like The History Channel on facebook to get these updates everyday! I think if you go on the site you can even get them by email. Some days are so interesting :)
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history Is where you can look for them on the History channel website.
I am also going to start getting the History Channel magazines every month, very excited!
Their website has some seriously interesting stuff, and their shop has ALL the history dvd's i could ever want. I'm going to start sifting through some their stuff to see what i'm going to get for my birthday. :)
I wonder if they sell life size George Washington posters? ;)
Monday, July 11, 2011
Presidents: George Washington!
I wanted my first post about presidents to be about my favorite president, George Washington. I don't want this to a boring biography about him so if you want his birthday and all the wars he ever fought in chronological order, please visit another website. :)
When i think about George Washington i picture the painting of him in his military uniform by Rembrandt Peale. So poised, intelligent, honorable, and just down right handsome!
I am very lucky to have been able to have visited his home in Mount Vernon. This is the place where he truly felt at home; Washington never lived in the White House because the capital was still in Philadelphia at the time. I was able to walk where he had walked, lived, and breathed at one time, it was surreal.
It's funny to think that he was such an intelligent thinking man had his schooling ended at the age of fourteen. This was very common back in the day to have your education ended at such a young age but you would just not think it about him. He made such good decisions in his military and presidential career that you would think he would have been a Harvard graduate with a degree in military strategy but i guess some people are just born with it. :) He joined the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen also, so he had an early start.
Washington never really wanted the lime light of the presidency and he mentioned it on several occasions, “bid adieu to happiness, public life will be a more distressing one than any I have known yet.”. At the time people wanted him to be the new King! They wanted to start all over again with what they had just left and let him have all the power. Luckily George Washington was a humble man with another vision. He took the presidency because he wanted our country to grow and flourish into what he knew it could be, and that is the great democratic nation that it is today. He is the only president what was ever unanimously voted in to office.
Washington was such a great man, sometimes i wonder what it would be like going back in time just meet him. One day i am going to write my masters thesis on him, but for today here are some other cool facts about Washington that you might not have known. :)
Cool Facts::
He never had dentures made of wood! Maybe of cow's teeth and hippopotamus ivory, but not wood.
He had a fear of public speaking, his farewell address was written in the newspaper but never given orally.
His family grew marijuana on their farm, it was used as hemp for rope, clothes, and other things.
He loved pineapples.
He NEVER wore a wig.
He gave his name to 1 U.S. state, 1 capital city, 33 counties, 7 mountains, 9 colleges, 121 post offices, and many more obscure things.
He was the only founding father to free his slaves. He freed them in his will at his death and left them money to live for quite a long time after he had been gone.
He had lots of dogs, some were named Sweet Lips, Madame Moose, Vulcan, and Taster.
He also loved horses, and to fish.
He died of a throat infection at the age of 67.
I hope you all have learned something here, that George Washington was an awesome guy :)
When i think about George Washington i picture the painting of him in his military uniform by Rembrandt Peale. So poised, intelligent, honorable, and just down right handsome!
I am very lucky to have been able to have visited his home in Mount Vernon. This is the place where he truly felt at home; Washington never lived in the White House because the capital was still in Philadelphia at the time. I was able to walk where he had walked, lived, and breathed at one time, it was surreal.
It's funny to think that he was such an intelligent thinking man had his schooling ended at the age of fourteen. This was very common back in the day to have your education ended at such a young age but you would just not think it about him. He made such good decisions in his military and presidential career that you would think he would have been a Harvard graduate with a degree in military strategy but i guess some people are just born with it. :) He joined the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen also, so he had an early start.
Washington never really wanted the lime light of the presidency and he mentioned it on several occasions, “bid adieu to happiness, public life will be a more distressing one than any I have known yet.”. At the time people wanted him to be the new King! They wanted to start all over again with what they had just left and let him have all the power. Luckily George Washington was a humble man with another vision. He took the presidency because he wanted our country to grow and flourish into what he knew it could be, and that is the great democratic nation that it is today. He is the only president what was ever unanimously voted in to office.
Washington was such a great man, sometimes i wonder what it would be like going back in time just meet him. One day i am going to write my masters thesis on him, but for today here are some other cool facts about Washington that you might not have known. :)
Cool Facts::
He never had dentures made of wood! Maybe of cow's teeth and hippopotamus ivory, but not wood.
He had a fear of public speaking, his farewell address was written in the newspaper but never given orally.
His family grew marijuana on their farm, it was used as hemp for rope, clothes, and other things.
He loved pineapples.
He NEVER wore a wig.
He gave his name to 1 U.S. state, 1 capital city, 33 counties, 7 mountains, 9 colleges, 121 post offices, and many more obscure things.
He was the only founding father to free his slaves. He freed them in his will at his death and left them money to live for quite a long time after he had been gone.
He had lots of dogs, some were named Sweet Lips, Madame Moose, Vulcan, and Taster.
He also loved horses, and to fish.
He died of a throat infection at the age of 67.
I hope you all have learned something here, that George Washington was an awesome guy :)
Friday, July 8, 2011
Just an Update
I have registered for my classes this fall and i wont be taking any of my core history classes yet. I will actually be taking an English class that is called Sci-fi and fantasy and my cultural class on France. I'm going to start a new blog piece about one of my favorite things, PRESIDENTS! I'm going to start with my favorite president which just so happens to be the first president, George Washington. Ill be working on it over the weekend, and look for my first post on Monday morning. :)
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Is a history degree right for me? What can i do with it?
Is a history degree even right for me?
Here are some skills that are needed if you are getting into history field work:
The ability to read and write effectively: These are very important to any history student! History involves reading books on top of books on top of books so that you can learn a subject well enough to regurgitate it without thinking. You will also have to probably write about it depending on your field work, not to mention that 20,000 word master's thesis!
The ability to research: In any history related job you will need to be able to have the skills to look at a story with little information and be able to trace the roots of that story to other sources of information and incorporate that into your own analysis of that information.
Critical thinking: This is the ability look at a problem in depth and find solutions for them. The best analysis skills are the creative ones! Don't be afraid to think outside the box about an issue and create new and inventive ways to solve problems and make things better!
The most important characteristics you should have are to be willing and eager learn, to be disciplined, and to persevere. These characteristics will follow you throughout your life making your job more of a lifelong educational learning experience than a 9-5 way to pay the bills.
What can i do with it?
If for some reason you are pursuing a history degree with no idea what you are actually going to do with it, i can help you.
With a history degree you have the foundation to do anything, but another degree in your specialized area will most likely be needed. Here are a few examples:
1. Teachers/Librarians
2. Researchers
3. Museums and Historical society's
4. Writers/Editors
5. Lawyers/Business people
These are just a few examples of careers you could go into with your foundation in history. I am one of those people that before i make any move i contemplate one thousand outcomes of that move. I knew i wanted to work in a museum, and i knew i wanted to get a history degree, however, that is not all there is to it. You can't walk into the Smithsonian and say, "Hey, i'm here for that job opening." It doesn't work like that. I had to research what i wanted to do in the museum and contemplate getting another degree in that specific field (Historian, Archivist, Curator, etc.) My point is, you're a history major, do some research. :)
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