Literature, Literacy and Current Events

Veteran profile: Don Jakeway
Veteran profile: Don Jakeway

June 14, 2019 - Before enlisting, training, and then dropping behind enemy lines on D-Day as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, the only experience with conflict Don Jakeway had was with rival football players he'd meet at the ice cream parlor in Johnstown, Ohio. They would trade innocent barbs about their season. Boys quickly grew to men during World War II (1939-1945). Now 96, Don observed the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2019 at the new National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus.

Word of the Day
fury: noun;severe chaos, violence; Find it in blue in today's top story!

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Featured Text Set (with Audio)

Pathfinder pilot recalls D-DayPathfinder pilot recalls D-Day
May 24, 2019 - David Hamilton was 21 years old when he was one of 20 pilots flying the first missions on D-Day.

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Questions
  1. Why is Rosa Parks called the 'Mother of the Civil Rights Movement?
  2. What prepared Rosa for the action she took on Montgomery City Bus #2857 on Dec. 1, 1955?
  3. Why was the life Rosa led such a courageous one?

Douglas Brinkley, author of Rosa Parks: A Life, speaks at the Student News Net Symposium on Sept. 14, 2018..

Weekly VOCAB

Week of June 10

contingencies: noun; back-up plans; unexpected events for which people prepare when planning a main event;
Gooney Birds are 'crossing the pond'

locations: noun; places, destinations;
Severe weather continues

tactics: noun; strategies, actions;
National Park profile: Whiskeytown

Today In History

June 16

1963: The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova from the USSR, the Soviet Union, now called Russia. She was in space for 70 hours in the Vostok 6 vehicle.

1775: Library of Congress: George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army by the Second Continental Congress. That same day, the Congress authorized the creation of the post of chief engineer for the army, in anticipation of upcoming battles with British forces. The engineers' work building fortifications, surveying terrain, and clearing roads during the war proved so valuable to the Revolutionary forces that the Congress resolved, four years later, based on a recommendation from the Board of War: "That the engineers in the service of the United States shall be formed into a corps, and styled the "corps of engineers;" and shall take rank and enjoy the same rights, honours, and privileges, with the other troops…" (Entry of March 11, 1779, Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789)

More from Student News Net

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Featured Unit

Chemical Elements "Off the Wall"

Studio glass art is a recent development but creating functional glass from silica sand is thousands of years old. Through this Student News Net video, tour the Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Washington to marvel at the beauty of glass and the chemical elements! Student News Net was there in 2017.

Read More: Seattle sights are simply stupendous

Pink diamonds are rare
Pink diamonds are rare

Sept. 3, 2013 (update: 2016) Over 90 percent of the world's pink diamonds come from The Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia. Pink Diamonds are very rare and very expensive, but all diamonds are tetrahedrons of carbon atoms.



In The News

Veteran profile: Don Jakeway
Veteran profile: Don Jakeway

June 14, 2019 - Before enlisting, training, and then dropping behind enemy lines on D-Day as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, the only experience with conflict Don Jakeway had was with rival football players he'd meet at the ice cream parlor in Johnstown, Ohio. They would trade innocent barbs about their season. Boys quickly grew to men during World War II (1939-1945). Now 96, Don observed the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2019 at the new National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus.

D-Day: June 6, 1944
D-Day: June 6, 1944

June 6, 2019 - Seventy-five years ago today, Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy, France to liberate Europe from tyranny.

   
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