Cricket History

What is a space archaeologist? After decades of leaving behind old pieces of equipment orbiting in space, scientists want to clean it up. An archaeologist determines what is important to save for the history of human space exploration. Learn about new efforts to identify and even retrieve old space equipment! How should scientists determine what should be preserved or what is junk?

Do you know how the first pizza was made? Learn how ancient civilizations started to make the first pizza—baked flat bread! See how pizza ingredients like cheese and tomatoes were discovered throughout history. Find out how pizza has become a worldwide favorite food.

Did you know that a woman fought in the Revolutionary War? Learn about Deborah Sampson, the first woman soldier to officially serve and fight in battles for the United States' military. To gain entry she disguised herself as a man which was discovered later during the war. She overcame many obstacles in order to fight in the Continental Army for America's freedom.

Do you know who Caesar Rodney is? Learn about the man who travelled an 80-mile journey on horseback in one night from Dover, Delaware to Pennsylvania, Philadelphia to deliver an important letter to the Continental Congress. His ride leads to the the life or death decision in our country's history—whether the colonies should fight for independence from Great Britain.

Do you know who Benjamin Franklin is? You might know him as the scientist who discovered electricity by tying a key to a kite during a storm! Did you know he was a founding father of the United States? He made many efforts to the Revolutionary War and the construction of the United States government. Learn about all the political contributions he made that helped create the United States!

Have you ever looked into the night sky and wished that you could walk on the Moon? Find about what it is like from the astronauts that were first to do it! Learn about how Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins traveled into space and created history in 1969, and what it was like to take those famous first steps that made “one giant leap for mankind."

Did you know there were several women and girls who worked as spies during the Civil War? Thanks to the voluminous hoop skirts and petticoats they wore, their clothing made it very easy to hide messages and smuggle them to the soldiers. Take a look at some of the women who served as Civil War spies!

Writing is very important to all of us! But did you know that people in the past did not have the same kind of writing instrument that we use today? Instead of using plastic or metals to create pens, people in the past used feathers to create pens! This story gives a brief history of what people used to write with and how they eventually developed the feather pen! Not only will you have a history of writing, but you will also learn how to create your very own feather pen!

Aluminum was once more valuable than gold. A breakthrough in refining aluminum from rock transformed it from rare matter to sandwich wrapper. In this science story, you'll learn how two chemists, Charles Hall and Paul Héroult, solved the problem.

Native Americans like Squanto provided good fortune for the Pilgrims of colonial America. During this period, tensions were high between Europeans and the Native Americans in present-day Massachusetts. Squanto, Samoset, and Hobbamock served as interpreters and ambassadors, establishing peaceful alliances between these two groups.

Confederate Major Absalom Grimes carried letters between Civil War soldiers and their families, and became an expert prison escape artist in the process. Hear about Grimes' amazing life of adventure in this historical nonfiction story.

Philadelphia was a noisy and lively city in Colonial America. In this story, you can just imagine being surrounded by the influence of various cultures, the smells of food in the city and the sounds of craftsmen hard at work.

In Colonial America, the port city of Philadelphia offered more opportunities for women like Rebecca Jones, a Quaker spinster and schoolteacher.

Emma Edmonds, a woman disguised as Private Frank Thompson, earned a spot in U.S. history as a successful Union spy during the American Civil War. At different times, she also posed as an Irish peddler woman, a black laundress, and a Confederate sympathizer.

Union Colonel Thomas E. Rose was captured in a Civil War battle and thrown in the brutal and secure Libby Prison. He quickly realizes that tunneling out is the only way to escape and joins forces with Major A. G. Hamilton to begin digging to freedom.

Do you know the Confederacy had a navy during the Civil War? The CSS Shenandoah plundered Union ships in order to disrupt their commerce. Because they were out at sea, though, they never heard that the Confederates had surrendered, and they continued to fight! Learn about how these sailors were the last Confederate force to surrender.

Many immigrants of various cultures have passed through the port city of Philadelphia before they adapted to the New World. William Penn guaranteed religious freedom to newcomers, which brought many persecuted peoples, such as Quakers, Mennonites, and refugees to the area, and that's only a smart part of the story of Philadelphia.

The Wampanoags, who inhabited what it is now southeastern Massachusetts, were strikingly different from the Pilgrims, who did not share the same interests in sharing land. The native people could not foresee Europeans taking the land that the Wampanoags had once respected and treasured.

The French Revolution has put George Washington's friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, in danger. Out of fear of imprisonment or execution, the Lafayettes send their son to America, to stay under Washington's protection.

During the American Civil War, cavalry units attacked quickly, cutting off the enemy's communication and railroad lines, seizing supplies and setting fire to anything they couldn't carry away. Although the Confederates lost the war, their cavalry played an important role in several battles.