On this day in 1610, Louis XIII was crowned King of France, following the assassination of his father, Henry IV. The new king was only nine, so his mother, Marie de’ Medici, ruled as regent. Her mismanagement, however, along with widespread hostility toward her Italian favorites, led the teenage Louis XIII to take over in

This week in 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. chief executive to fly in an airplane. More than 10,000 people attended the event at Kinloch Field in St. Louis. The pilot, Archibald Hoxsey, flew Roosevelt around the field twice, for a distance of about three miles, in a flight lasting three minutes

On this day in 1957, Sputnik I became the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. The beachball-sized Soviet machine circled the planet in a low elliptical orbit for three weeks before its batteries finally died. Then it continued for two more months before finally falling back into the atmosphere. The unexpected success of Sputnik

This week in 1501, Michelangelo began work on his statue of David, one of Renaissance Italy’s most famous works of art. The artist took three years to complete the piece, unveiling it in 1504. David was originally meant to stand on the roof-line of the Florence Cathedral, but it (he) was instead placed at Palazzo Vecchio

This week in history, in 1522, the Spanish carrack Victoria returned home with just eighteen crew-members. She had completing the first circumnavigation of the globe. The expedition had begun in 1519 with five fully-crewed ships under the command of Ferdinand Magellan. During the long journey across the Atlantic and Pacific and beyond, most of the

Dear friends, My new novel just went on sale! Secrets of Hominea is a magical middle grade fantasy: a tale of giants, gnomes, queens, and adventurers — and of science and history. It’s for readers age 9 to 14. I hope you’ll buy a copy and help spread the word. You can get a paperback

The Jericho River just got a wonderful review/endorsement from Ancient History Encyclopedia! To read it, just click the headline or the image below … Get Your Kids Interested in World History!  

This should grab most kids’ attention — and teachers’ too. Usually, we publish our own articles, but CNN did a great job describing this. Just click the photo to go to the CNN article …

I’m delighted to announce that School Library Connection has recommended The Jericho River! The review appears in the In the August/September issue. Here’s an excerpt: I really enjoyed this book. I loved the history and the strange creatures Jason meets and befriends along the way. Another great thing about the book is its relevancy to