WarGames follows David Lightman, a high school student who unwittingly hacks into WOPR (War Operations Planned Response), a United States military supercomputer programmed to predict possible outcomes of nuclear war. Lightman gets WOPR to run a nuclear war simulation, originally believing it to be a computer game. The simulation causes a national nuclear missile scare and nearly starts World War III.
The movie illustrates the very real fear of an 'imminent' nuclear attack during the late Cold War and teaches a valuable lesson in the end.
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock face, maintained since 1947 by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The closer the clock is to midnight, the closer the world is estimated to be to global disaster. Originally, the Clock, which hangs on a wall in the Bulletin's office in the University of Chicago, represented an analogy for the threat of global nuclear war; however, since 2007 it has also reflected climate change. The most recent officially announced setting—three minutes to midnight (11:57)—was made in January 2015 due to "[un]checked climate change, global nuclear weapons modernizations, and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals". This setting was retained in January 2016.
True or False: You are more likely to die from the flu than you were in the trenches of WWI.
In the spring of 1918, as the nation mobilized for war, Private Albert Gitchell reported to an army hospital in Kansas. He was diagnosed with the flu, a disease doctors knew little about. Before the year was out, America would be ravaged by a flu epidemic that killed 675,000 — more than in all the wars of this century combined — before disappearing as mysteriously as it began.
The 1918 pandemic had profound impacts on life in the United States. Thousands of children were orphaned. So dire was the situation that many cities including Boston, Richmond, St. Louis and others mandated quarantines and social-distancing measures. In San Francisco and Seattle, laws were passed forcing people to wear masks covering their mouths and noses while in public. The public health commissioner in Chicago told police to arrest anyone seen sneezing without covering their face in public.
In which John Green teaches you about the Progressive Presidents, who are not a super-group of former presidents who create complicated, symphonic, rock soundscapes that transport you into a fantasy fugue state. Although that would be awesome. The presidents most associated with the Progressive Era are Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. During the times these guys held office, trusts were busted, national parks were founded, social programs were enacted, and tariffs were lowered. It wasn't all positive though, as their collective tenure also saw Latin America invaded A LOT, a split in the Republican party that resulted in a Bull Moose, all kinds of other international intervention, and the end of the Progressive Era saw the United States involved in World War. If all this isn't enough to entice, I will point out that two people get shot in this video. Violence sells, they say.
1) Which of the Presidents would you bring to a party based on their personality? Why?
2) Who would you want to lead your sleigh? Explain.
3) Which president would make the best Santa? Why?
4) Who gave the most to the 'American Worker?' Women?'
5) How would the current President compare to the 'Progressives?' Would he be invited to their party? Why or why not?
During his term, President Taft dissolved the Standard Oil monopoly, and the 16th and 17th amendments, calling for the income tax and the direct election of Senators respectively, were ratified. He was also the only U.S. president who served on the U.S. Supreme Court. He died on March 8, 1930. Ray Henderson, Taft National Historic Site, Acting Chief of Interpretation also provided a tour of the home in which President Taft lived from birth through age 18 when he went to Yale University. Highlights of the tour included the parlor piano and a library desk and the first bathtub he had installed in the White House. Robert Taft, II is President Taft’s great-grandson.
"He was nearly as close to the stove as he could get, and yet he could not persuade himself, that he felt the slightest heat, not withstanding the 'glass' door was still gently and serenely glowing. He tried to get a trifle closer to the stove, and the consequence was, he tripped the supporting poker and the stove-door tumbled to the floor. And then there was a revelation--there was nothing in the stove but a lighted tallow-candle! The poor youth blushed and felt as if lie must die with shame. But the Colonel was only disconcerted for a moment--he straightway found his voice again: What you want is the appearance of heat, not the heat itself--that's the idea. Well how to do it was the next thing. I just put my head, to work, pegged away, a couple of days, and here you are! Stove with a candle in it and a transparent door--that's it--it has been the salvation of this family."
The period in the late 1800s known as the 'Gilded Age' derived its name from a satire written by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. It was considered the first "social protest" novel in American literature and inspired future writers to expose social and political ills that they observed in the nation.
1) What does the contradiction between the Colonel's explanation and the cold the young man feels imply about "Gilded Age?"
How many of you hope to leave Talawanda and live in ' the Big City' someday? Why/ not?
This footage is from a San Francisco cable car shortly before an earthquake and fire destroyed the city in 1906. What social, political, and environmental problems do you see on the ride?
In a Writing for Understanding activity today in class you will act as muckrakers to conduct field investigations using primary sources. You will then use your notes to write newspaper reports exposing problems in American society in the early 20th century. Be sure to use shocking and vivid language that will stir your readers into action.
Welcome to the home page of Mr. Kelly's History class, Talawanda High School, Oxford, Ohio, USA. Here you will find assignments, links to lessons, your grades, and online discussions. Please remember that this site is an online extension of our classroom and to treat each other with respect. Thanks and BE BRAVE!
