Misfortunate Monday: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this massive ball of rock that we call home! Today we'll be taking a look at the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a horrible tragedy to befall such a young president. Well, what are waiting for? Let's get into it!

     John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in a motorcade riding through Dallas, Texas while riding to the Trade Mart to deliver another speech. While passing through the Dealey Plaza, the motorcade passed the Texas Schoolbook Depository. Shots rang out and one passed through the president's neck, ultimately landing in Governor Connally's thigh.

     The second shot, however, was the killer. It hit the back of JFK's head and killed him. The motorcade raced off to the hospital, but the doctor's attempts of revival were futile. Kennedy was dead.

     The killer was later identified as Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was apprehended and spent time in jail, after shooting a police officer who attempted to arrest him. Oswald was never able to go to court because he was shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who said he did it to "spare Jacqueline Kennedy from having to testify in court." Ruby was later put to death before a retrial could be held.

     Fast Facts:

• Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the new president of the United States on Air Force 1.
• The grand open-top limousine JFK had been riding in was specially flown in from Washington D.C.
• Jacqueline Kennedy refused to take off her pink Chanel suit stained with her husband's blood. 

     Sources: https://www.britannica.com/event/assassination-of-John-F-Kennedy/Conspiracy-theories
     https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-10-2013/50-facts-about-jfk-assassination.html

Wacky Border Sunday: The Minnesotan Northwest Angle

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this massive world we call home! Today we'll be taking a look at Minnesota's Northwestangle, a strange landform that is disconnected from Minnesota and reaches into Canada. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's dive straight into it!

    The Northwest Angle:

     

     Did you know that a few months ago, a petition was started to grant Canada this piece of land? I can see why because it totally encroaches on Canada's land!

Misfortunate Monday: Hurricane Katrina

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to all the historical fun that this world has to offer! Today we'll be taking a look at Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest hurricanes of modern history. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's dive straight into it!

     Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana on August 29th, 2005. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with winds of up to 120 miles per hour. Because of the following destruction and death, it is widely regarded as the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, clocking in at 1,200 deaths and $108 billion dollars of damage. 

     The devastating hurricane revealed a series of problems in regard to the federal government's response to the disaster, mostly in the search-and-rescue department. The lack of preparedness was also brought into question after it was revealed that 50 levees broke during the hurricane. The main victims of Hurricane Katrina were lower-income families who lived in the low suburbs of New Orleans.

     Fun Facts: 

• An estimated 80% of New Orleans was underwater, some places up to 20 feet deep in water.
• Hurricane Katrina impacted a staggering 90,000 square miles of land.
• The levees in New Orleans were only designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, but Katrina peaked at a Category 5.

     Picture of Hurricane Katrina:

     

     Sources: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/reference/hurricane-  katrina/

     https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-hurricane-katrina 

Wacky Border Sunday: The Eastern Shore of Virginia

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this massive world! Today we'll be taking a look at the Eastern Shore of Virginia, a weird little detached part of Virginia. Let's get straight into it!

     Now that's a little weird, huh? Why would Virginia have a detached piece? Who knows?

Battle Wednesday: The Battle of Gettysburg

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this massive world of ours! Today we'll be taking a look at The Battle of Gettysburg, one of the most crucial military engagements of the Civil War. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get right into it, shall we?

     The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1st to July 3rd and is considered the most crucial battle of the entire Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces in Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his troops into Pennsylvania in late June 1863. On July 1st, Lee's troops clashed with Confederate troops. After a while of heavy fighting, Lee was forced to fall back and suffered a defeat.

     After a couple of days of fighting, the north was finally declared the victor and slavery was abolished. The Civil War was the deadliest war in terms of U.S. casualties. 620,000 people were killed, all of them being U.S. citizens.

     Fun Facts:

• 66% of all deaths in the Civil war were caused by disease.
• Abraham Lincoln's famed Gettysburg Address was only 269 words long.
• Stonewall Jackson, one of the great South generals, was killed by friendly fire.

     Map of the Union and Confederate states:

       
     Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-gettysburg
     https://www.ducksters.com/history/facts_about_the_civil_war.php   

Misfortunate Monday: The Children's Blizzard of 1888

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this massive world of ours! Today on Misfortunate Monday, we'll be taking a look at the Children's Blizzard of 1888, the deadliest blizzard to hit the U.S. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's dive straight into it!

     The Children's Blizzard got its name from the many children that died trying to return home after the blizzard struck their schoolhouses on January 12th, 1888. Although it wasn't the most extreme blizzard to strike the area, it was the deadliest, with 235 deaths, most of which being children.

     Despite the blizzard-like conditions, many reported that weather was unusually nice for the area. Many farmers, noticing this odd change, kept their children home from school and prepared for the onslaught of ice and sleet. Many, however, didn't bother to keep their children home and sent them to school in shorts.

     Although it was the 1800's, many people should have been a little keener on the signs of a disaster. Luckily we have blizzard safety protocols to protect us from the horrors the children of the Children's Blizzard had to endure.

     Picture of the Children's Blizzard 

     

     Sources: https://www.weather.gov/unr/1888-01-12

     

Wacky Border Sunday: The Diomede Islands + Misfortunate Monday: The Attack On Pearl Harbor

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another installment of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide for the world! Today we're going to be discussing two things, the Diomede Islands and Pearl Harbor. Let's start with the Diomedes islands, shall we?

     You could reasonably swim from Russia to the U.S. because the gap is separated by a mere 3.8 kilometers.

   

     Misfortunate Monday:

     Pearl Harbor was a quiet naval base on the shores of Hawaii, and it was where a devastating surprise attack from the Japanese occurred. The attack happened on December 7th, 1941 when hundreds of planes descended from the sky and opened fire on the naval base, destroying or damaging nearly twenty naval vessels. More than 2,400 Americans died, including civilians. 1,000 were wounded. The day after the attack, Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

     Up until that point, the Japanese had America fooled. Japanese leaders declared peace with America and gave them numerous prizes and peace offerings. America believed they were allies with the Japanese until Pearl Harbor.

     Because of Pearl Harbor, nuclear bombs had to be brought into the scheme of things. America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, one in Hiroshima and the other in Nagasaki. Shortly after America's involvement in World War II, the war ended. The opposing forces realized that if the Americans could destroy Japan just like that, why not them too?


     The attack of Pearl Harbor.
        

     Fun Facts:

• Japan attacked Pearl Harbor without declaring war.
• American radar detected incoming planes but nothing was done.
• The attack lasted about two hours.

     Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor

     https://hireourheroes.org/2016/12/08/11-interesting-facts-attack-pearl-harbor/

War Wednesday: The Revolutionary War

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! My name is Mr. Nations, and I'll be your tour guide to the wacky world of well... the world! Today we're going to be discussing the first war of U.S. history, the Revolutionary War. Well, let's get started, shall we?

     The Revolutionary War, spanning from 1775 to 1783, arose from growing tensions between Great Britain's thirteen colonies and the British monarchy. Skirmishes between British troops and colonists had already been occurring, but they were only getting worse. By April of 1775, the rebels were waging a full-on war. The French joined the rebel cause, further strengthening the rebels army cause. By 1781, the Americans had won their independence, but the war would not formally end until 1783.

     Attempts from the British government to raise the taxes of the colonists were met with heavy resentment and protests. During one of the protests, British troops opened fire on the colonists, spawning what is now known as the Boston Massacre. This is thought to be the official beginning of the Revolutionary War.

     After the Boston Massacre, several more battles occurred, many of which would be impossibly difficult to describe. I'll see you guys Saturday, Mr. Nations out!

      
     A battle in the Revolutionary War.

     Fun Facts:

• Colonists that remained loyal to Great Britain were called "loyalists."
• British soldiers were known as Redcoats or Red Devils
• The British army was weakened by having to fight in the Caribbean as well.

     Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history

     https://www.biographyonline.net/facts-american-revolution/

Triumphant Tuesday: The Louisiana Purchase

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to the world. Today we're going to be discussing the Lousiana Purchase, a purchase of land that doubled the size of the United States. Let's dive straight into it!

     The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 expanded the U.S. by 828,000 square miles of territory bought from France. The purchase was made because the U.S. feared that the French would establish an empire in North America. The French, who had no such plans, agreed to the price of $3,750,000 for the tract of land.

     This purchase of land was widely regarded as one of the most important expansions of the U.S. and also as one of Thomas Jefferson's greatest achievement as president.

     I'm sorry for the length of today's post. I felt as if the purchase needed to be mentioned on Triumphant Tuesday, but interesting information about this topic is scarce, so I had to make do with what I had. I'll make sure to give tomorrow's post a good length. Mr. Nations out!

 
       Picture of the land that was bought during the Louisiana Purchase.

     Fun Facts:

• The land bought in the Louisiana Purchase sold for less than $0.03 an acre.
• America had to borrow money from European banks to pay for the purchase.
• The U.S. was considering going to war over the land.

     Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/louisiana-purchase

     https://learnodo-newtonic.com/louisiana-purchase-facts

Historical Sunday: The United States of America - Discovery - Part Two

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! Today we will be finishing up our review of the United States with a little more history. Let's get straight into it, shall we?

     When we left off last Sunday, we were finishing up our explanation of the Revolutionary War. We've already discussed the Civil War on last War Wednesday, so we're going to jump right into the most gruesome war the United States has ever seen, and that is World War II.

     World War II was the worst war mankind has ever seen. It spanned across all the continents (excluding Antarctica) and all of our oceans. The estimated death toll for such a war clocks in at a whopping 50 million military and civilian lives, including the Jewish people that Hitler so brutally executed.

     Among the horror, World War II coincidentally ended the Great Depression by forcing hundreds of thousands of people to go into the defense industries.

     Many believe that the war was sparked when a small political party leader promised his country financial success if only they were to follow his way of life. That political party was the Nazis and the radical political leader was Adolf Hitler. As he amassed more and more supporters in favor of his party, the German leader promoted Hitler to the Chancellor position. After the German president died, Hitler was made the president and he appointed himself to the supreme overlord of the entire government. This is how Hitler gained control of Germany and tried to take over all of Europe.

     As many know, World War II ended shortly after the U.S. bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki after Japan launched an attack on Hawaii later known as Pearl Harbor. Things have been pretty chill for America since World War II. No country is safe from the brutality of war, and America is no exception.

     I think that that will be it for today's post. Thank you for reading and sticking around for an entire week. I know I don't ask much, but if you would please share this with any friends you might have, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you and good night!

     Sources: https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II,
     https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/world-war-2.cfm

Silly Saturday: The United States of America - The Boy Who Designed The Fifty-Star American Flag

     Hello everybody, and welcome back to Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations and today we'll be discussing the boy who designed the fifty-star American flag. Let's jump straight into it, shall we?

     A boy named Robert Heft loved flags and politics, so when his U.S. History teacher handed out an assignment that said that he needed to create a flag, he had a perfect idea. Make a fifty-star flag for the United States.

     To create it, Heft cut out fifty stars from iron-on material and sewed them onto a large piece of blue fabric. After doing this, he sewed the new amount of stars onto his family's 48-star flag. Such a simple idea, yet so effective.

      When he presented his new flag to his history teacher, his teacher was confused. His reaction when Heft presented the new flag was to ask "Why are there too many stars on this flag? Do you even know how many states we have?" Heft's final grade was a B-. Not bad, until you consider the fact that Heft's friend taped five leaves he found on the ground to a piece of notebook paper and got an A. Obviously Heft was upset about his grade, so when he asked his teacher to change it, his teacher sarcastically said "If you can get it accepted in Washington, I may consider changing the grade.

     Two years later and 21 letters and 18 phone calls, Heft received a phone call from the president at the time, President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower had called Heft to ask him to come down to Washington D.C on the Fourth of July to raise the new flag of the United States. After this event, his teacher, a little surprised to be sure, changed his grade to an A.

     Although Robert Heft died in 2009, his story inspires children and adults alike to follow through with your dreams and to persevere until it seems impossible, but then it finally happens. His legacy lives on each time we raise the fifty-star American flag.

     Sources: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2016/06/14/boy-scout-designed-50-star-american-flag/

Freaky Friday: The United States of America: The Taos Hum

     Hello everybody, and welcome back to Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your guide to the history of a country. Today we're going to be exploring the strange phenomena known as the Taos Hum. Let's dive straight into it!

     The Taos Hum is a strange phenomenon that causes a select few people to hear what can only be described as a whir, hum, or buzz. The city of Taos, New Mexico has only about 5,500 people and only 2% of the said population can actually hear the hum. The first person to ever hear this hum was a man named John Mullins, who first heard it in the year 1990. He called the people who could hear the hum "hearers." The hearers set up extensive sound equipment to see if the machines could pick up the hum that the hearers seemed to be hearing. Nothing unusual showed up on any of the machines.

     There are several explanations for the alleged Taos Hum. Some say the hearers are making it up because none of the sound equipment picked up the hum. Others say that the hum is caused by undiagnosed tinnitus, a disease that affects the ears makes it seem as if there are humming or ringing noises that aren't actually there. But a study shows that a very little percentage of the hearers actually have tinnitus, so who knows? Maybe the ominous hum will always remain a mystery.

     That was very interesting indeed. How can somebody so adamantly claim that they are hearing something that may not even exist? I guess the Taos Hum will remain a mystery.

     Sources: https://www.livescience.com/43519-taos-hum.html

War Wednesday: The United States of America - The Civil War

     Hello everyone and welcome back to Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations. Today we are going to be exploring the goriest and bloodiest war in American history, the Civil War. Interestingly enough, this war was fought entirely on American soil, making it the war that has claimed the most American lives.

     The American Civil War was waged from 1861 to 1865, making it a relatively short war as wars usually go. The war was primarily about slavery, but there were other reasons for it as well. The southern states saw it if that president Abraham Lincoln was elected, it would greatly impact their use of free slave labor. The northern states saw slave labor as unconstitutional and hoped that a new president would change that.

     When Lincoln finally became president, eleven U.S. states seceded instead of giving up their slaves and way of life. Of course, the northerners opposed this, and this is widely believed to be the primary cause of the Civil War. The south had many advantages and disadvantages regarding the war. One of their main advantages was that the war was fought on their home soil, making northern soldiers more vulnerable passing through to the battlefields. One of the main disadvantages was that the south was worried that their slave population might try to rise up against them, then making them have to fight people from outside their territory, and people in it.

     The north also had its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. An advantage they had was that the south did not have the more advanced factories and roadways the north did, in theory making them weaker. This advantage eventually saw that the Civil War was ended, and slavery was made illegal.

     Like many countries, a civil war is a nasty part of history, but they all do eventually have to have one. Only eleven countries in the world have not had a civil war in their history, so civil wars are a pretty common occurrence. We part for now, but I'll see you again on Friday. Goodbye!

     Sources: https://aaregistry.org/story/the-american-civil-war-a-brief-summary/

Triumphant Tuesday: The United States of America - The Apollo Space Landing

     Hello everybody! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations and today we'll be delving into a major accomplishment of the United States of America. Today, I'll be writing about the Apollo Space Landing of 1969. Let's get straight into it!

     On July 20th, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first humans in the world to ever land on the moon. About 6 1/2 hours later, Armstrong became the first person ever to walk on the moon. As he took his first step, Armstrong famously said: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The Apollo 11 mission happened eight years after President Kennedy announced a national goal of getting a man to the moon by the end of the 1960s.

     This major accomplishment spawned several other manned missions to the moon, although they are not as well known or recognized as the Apollo 11 mission. The Apollo 11 mission also marked the end of the "Space Race" with Russia.

     I felt as if this video was perfect for the Apollo Program conspiracists that think that the moon landing was fake and it was staged. Here is a video of Buzz Aldrin punching a reporter in the face after the reporter saying that he was a lying coward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF_OeMkSAmg

     This actually made me laugh.

     Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/space-exploration/moon-landing-1969

     Picture of Neil Armstrong on the moon: