What was...?
Author
2)
What was the Alamo?
Author
Author
Series
Publisher
Grosset & Dunlap
Pub. Date
c2013
Language
English
Description
Describes the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, and includes details on troop movements of both the Union and Confederate armies, the notable figures on the battlefield, and the famous Gettysburg Address.
4)
What was the Boston Tea Party?
Author
Author
Series
Publisher
Grosset & Dunlap, an imprint of the Penguin Group
Pub. Date
[2013]
Language
English
Description
Describes how the Pilgrims at Plymouth shared a three-day feast with their Native American neighbors after their first harvest in 1621, establishing a tradition that would become a national holiday.
6)
What was the Gold Rush?
Author
7)
What was the March on Washington?
Author
Author
Language
English
Description
"No one knows where the term Underground Railroad came from--there were no trains or tracks, only "conductors" who helped escaping slaves to freedom. Including real stories about "passengers" on the "Railroad, " this book chronicles slaves' close calls with bounty hunters, exhausting struggles on the road, and what they sacrificed for freedom. With black-and-white illustrations throughout and a sixteen-page black-and-white photo insert, the Underground...
9)
What is the Panama Canal?
Author
10)
What is the Statue of Liberty?
Author
Author
Series
Publisher
Grosset & Dunlap an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Pub. Date
[2014]
Language
English
Description
Describes the history of Ellis Island, a gateway for many immigrants coming to the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and details the restoration of the landmark and its reopening as a museum.
Author
Series
Language
English
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Description
At 800-feet long, the Hindenburg was the largest airship ever built—just slightly smaller than the Titanic! Also of a disastrous end, the zeppelin burst into flame as spectators watched it attempt to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937. In under a minute, the Hindenburg was gone, people jumping from windows to escape. However, only 62 of the 97 crew members and passengers onboard survived. The exact cause of the disaster is still unknown...
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Series
Language
English
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Description
With over 110 million viewers every year, the Super Bowl is one of the most watched television events in the United States. The final showdown between the two best football teams in the NFL attracts some of the biggest musicians to perform at the half-time show. But the Super Bowl is more than just a spectacle – it’s a high-stakes game to win the championship and claim a place in history. Go back in time and relive all the magic from years...
16)
What is the World Series?
Author
17)
What was D-Day?
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18)
What was Hurricane Katrina?
Author
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"On October 29, 1929, life in the United States took a turn for the worst. The stock market the system that controls money in America plunged to a record low. But this event was only the beginning of many bad years to come. By the early 1930s, one out of three people was not working. People lost their jobs, their houses, or both and ended up in shantytowns called Hoovervilles named for the president at the time of the crash. By 1933, many banks had...
Author
Series
Publisher
Grosset & Dunlap, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Pub. Date
[2015]
Language
English
Description
"Something wicked was brewing in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It started when two girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, began having hysterical fits. Soon after, other local girls claimed they were being pricked with pins. With no scientific explanation available, the residents of Salem came to one conclusion: it was witchcraft! Over the next year and a half, nineteen people were convicted of witchcraft and hanged while more...
Author
Language
English
Description
"Step back in time to the birth of America and meet the real-life rebels who made this country free! On a hot summer day near Philadelphia in 1776, Thomas Jefferson sat at his desk and wrote furiously until early the next morning. He was drafting the Declaration of Independence, a document that would sever this country's ties with Britain and announce a new nation--The United States of America. Colonists were willing to risk their lives for freedom,...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Young Readers Group
Pub. Date
2016
Language
English
Formats
Description
Did the Great Chicago Fire really start after a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn? Find out the truth in this addition to the What Was? series.
On Sunday, October 8, 1871, a fire started on the south side of Chicago. A long drought made the neighborhood go up in flames. And practically everything that could go wrong did. Firemen first went to the wrong location. Fierce winds helped the blaze jump the Chicago River twice. The Chicago Waterworks...
On Sunday, October 8, 1871, a fire started on the south side of Chicago. A long drought made the neighborhood go up in flames. And practically everything that could go wrong did. Firemen first went to the wrong location. Fierce winds helped the blaze jump the Chicago River twice. The Chicago Waterworks...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Young Readers Group
Pub. Date
2016
Language
English
Formats
Description
In this addition to the What Was? series, kids will experience what it was like to be in San Francisco in 1906 when the ground buckled in a major, catastrophic earthquake.
One early April morning in 1906, the people of San Francisco were jolted awake by a mammoth earthquake—one that registered 7.8 on the Richter Scale. Not only was there major damage from the quake itself but broken gas lines sparked a fire that ravaged the city for...
One early April morning in 1906, the people of San Francisco were jolted awake by a mammoth earthquake—one that registered 7.8 on the Richter Scale. Not only was there major damage from the quake itself but broken gas lines sparked a fire that ravaged the city for...
Author
Series
Publisher
Grosset & Dunlap, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Pub. Date
[2016]
Language
English
Description
"On August 15, 1969, a music festival called 'Woodstock' transformed one small dairy farm in upstate New York into a gathering place for over 400,000 young music fans. Concert-goers, called 'hippies, ' traveled from all over the country to see their favorite musicians perform. Famous artists like The Grateful Dead played day and night in a celebration of peace, love, and happiness. Although Woodstock lasted only three days, the spirit of the festival...
Author
Series
Publisher
Grosset & Dunlap
Pub. Date
[2016]
Language
English
Description
"Discover the true story of the Twin Towers--how they came to be the tallest buildings in the world and why they were destroyed. When the Twin Towers were built in 1973, they were billed as an architectural wonder. At 1,368 feet, they clocked in as the tallest buildings in the world and changed the New York City skyline dramatically. Offices and corporations moved into the towers--also known as the World Trade Center--and the buildings were seen as...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Pub. Date
[2017]
Language
English
Description
"Here is the story behind the ten laws that have been the guiding light of Judeo-Christian belief. Not just about Moses, whose origin story leaves open questions, this book looks back at the time when the commandments were written, how the belief in one all-powerful God set the Israelites apart from other ancient peoples, and the roles the Ten Commandments have played in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It also looks at what each individual commandment...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Pub. Date
[2017]
Language
English
Description
Introduces the period approximately 20,000 years ago when global temperatures were much colder and ice covered much of the planet, and describes how animals living during that time adapted to the environment.
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Pub. Date
[2018]
Language
English
Description
"Learn more about what climate change means and how it's affecting our planet. The earth is definitely getting warmer. There's no argument about that, but who or what is the cause? And why has climate change become a political issue? Are humans at fault? Is this just a natural development? While the vast majority of scientists who study the environment agree that humans play a large part in climate change, there is a counterargument. Author Gail Herman...
Author
Language
English
Description
"We the people at Who HQ bring readers the full story--arguments and all--of how the US Constitution came into being. Signed on September 17, 1787--four years after the American War for Independence--the Constitution laid out the supreme law of the United States of America. Today it's easy for us to take this blueprint of our government for granted. But the Framers--fifty-five men from almost all of the original 13 states--argued fiercely for many...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Pub. Date
[2018]
Language
English
Description
"For more than 100 years, people have been captivated by the disastrous sinking of the Titanic that claimed over 1,500 lives. Now young readers can find out why the great ship went down and how it was discovered seventy-five years later. At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic, the largest passenger steamship of this time, met its catastrophic end after crashing into an iceberg. Of the 2,240 passengers and crew onboard, only...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Pub. Date
[2018]
Language
English
Description
"Flappers, flag-pole sitting, and the Ford Model T--these are just a few of the things that instantly conjure up a unique era--the Roaring Twenties. It was the bees' knees, the cat's meow. If you're not familiar with 1920s slang, all the more reason to read this fascinating look at that wild, exciting decade. It began on the heels of one tragedy--the flu pandemic of 1918--and ended with another: the start of the Great Depression. But in between there...
37) What is NASA?
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop
Pub. Date
[2019]
Language
English
Description
"Find out all about NASA in this out-of-this-world addition to the What Was? series. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, began in 1958. With its creation, the United States hoped to ensure it won the space race against the Soviet Union. Author Sarah Fabiny describes the origins of NASA, the launching of the Apollo program that landed the first human on the moon, and the many missions and discoveries that have taken...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop
Pub. Date
[2019]
Language
English
Description
"In the early-morning hours of June 28, 1969, police arrived at the Stonewall Inn's doors and yelled, "Police! We're taking the place!" But the people in this New York City neighborhood bar, members of the LGBTQ community, were tired of being harassed. They rebelled in the streets, turning one moment into a civil rights movement and launching the fight for equality among LGBTQ people in the United States." -- Amazon.com.
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Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
"A thoughtful and age-appropriate introduction to an unimaginable event--the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a genocide on a scale never before seen, with as many as twelve million people killed in Nazi death camps--six million of them Jews. Gail Herman traces the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, whose rabid anti-Semitism led first to humiliating anti-Jewish laws, then to ghettos all over Eastern Europe, and ultimately to the Final Solution. She presents...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop
Pub. Date
[2019]
Language
English
Description
"Learn how the United States ended up fighting for twenty years in a remote country on the other side of the world. The Vietnam War was as much a part of the tumultuous Sixties as Flower Power and the Civil Rights Movement. Five US presidents were convinced that American troops could end a war in the small, divided country of Vietnam and stop Communism from spreading in Southeast Asia. But they were wrong, and the result was the death of 58,000 American...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop
Pub. Date
[2020]
Language
English
Description
"As the Opening Ceremony for the 1948 Summer Olympic Games commenced in London, a similar sporting competition was taking place a few miles away. But the men at Stoke Mandeville weren't your typical athletes. They were paralyzed World War II veterans. The games at Stoke Mandeville were so successful that they would eventually lead evolve into the Paralympics. Participants from all around the world vie for the gold medal in a variety of sports, including...
44) What is LEGO?
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"The LEGO toy company was founded in 1934 by a Danish carpenter who loved making wooden pull toys. From its humble beginnings, the company has lived up to its name--which comes from the Danish phrase meaning to always "play well"--encouraging children to use their imagination and build whatever they can dream up. In this book, author Jim O'Connor describes how a simple concept--small plastic bricks that snap together--morphed into a cultural phenomenon"--...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Even though slavery had ended in the 1860s, African Americans were still suffering under the weight of segregation a hundred years later. They couldn't go to the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, or even use the same bathrooms as white people. But by the 1950s, black people refused to remain second-class citizens and were willing to risk their lives to make a change"--
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop
Pub. Date
[2020]
Language
English
Description
"By August 1945, World War II was over in Europe, but the fighting continued between American forces and the Japanese, who were losing but determined to fight till the bitter end. And so it fell to a new president--Harry S. Truman--to make the fateful decision to drop two atomic bombs--one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki--and bring the war to rapid close. Now, even seventy years later, can anyone know if this was the right choice? In a thoughtful...
Author
Publisher
Penguin Workshop
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
"Although fans the world over have been fascinated by the modern Summer Olympics since 1896, the Winter Olympics didn't officially begin until 1924. The event celebrates cold-weather sports, displaying the talents of skiers, ice skaters, hockey players, and, most recently, snowboarders. Like its summer counterpart, the Winter Games are dedicated to bringing together the world's top athletes to honor their talents and see who gets to stand on the medal...
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Formats
Description
Whether Congress is in session or not, here is an enthralling overview about the branch of our government closest to average Americans.
Best-selling adult author and the first woman to become executive editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson is a self-confessed political junkie. Now she has written the book she wishes she'd had as a young reader. Explaining clearly and concisely what exactly Congress does, this audiobook...
Best-selling adult author and the first woman to become executive editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson is a self-confessed political junkie. Now she has written the book she wishes she'd had as a young reader. Explaining clearly and concisely what exactly Congress does, this audiobook...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Workshop
Pub. Date
[2021]
Language
English
Description
"Before the fifteenth century, European sailors were unsure what waited for them beyond their well-known travel routes around the Mediterranean Sea, so they kept within sight of land. But all of that changed after Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal started sending ships down the coast in the hope of finding a sea route to India and Africa. This was the beginning of a giant leap toward understanding what the globe actually looked like. Certain...
Author
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Travel back in time to the 1920s and 1930s to the sounds of jazz in nightclubs and the 24-hours-a-day bustle of the famous Black neighborhood of Harlem in uptown Manhattan. It was a dazzling time when there was an outpouring of the arts of African Americans--the poetry of Langston Hughes, the novels of Zora Neale Hurston, the sculptures of Augusta Savage, and that brand-new music called jazz as only Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong could play it....
Author
Language
English
Description
"Castles may conjure up a romantic fairy tale world; however, in real life, during the Middle Ages, castles were fortresses, providing shelter and protection for the lord as well as for the peasants who lived on his land. For an army, a lord depended on young soldiers in armor called knights who spent years at the castle learning the skills of warfare"--
Author
Language
English
Description
"Best-selling author, former executive editor of the New York Times, and self-confessed political junkie, Jill Abramson has written a detailed and fascinating book that explains how the highest court in the United States works, who gets to serve on it, which cases have had the greatest impact on the country, and why the US justice system is so vital to democracy"--