This Week In History

This Week in History explores a selection of historically significant events that took place during that same week in different years. Each episode presents entertaining vignettes about these events, which explain their importance in history. This study guide is designed to provide educators with a pedagogical tool to adapt this series for use in the classroom. It provides discussion questions and activities that can be used to help students understand, interpret, and analyze some of the highlights of the program. It provides related Web site addresses so educators can create their own Web-based activities and assignments as well as suggestions for further reading for their students. The guide is targeted for middle school students but can easily be adapted for both elementary school and high school students. It complies with and incorporates the National Standards for History for grades 5–12, including chronological thinking, historical comprehension, historical analysis and interpretations, and historical research capabilities for United States history and world history.

October 8 - 14

This episode of This Week in History explores the following events:

1. October 8, 1871: The Great Chicago
2. October 12, 1492: Christopher Columbus lands in the Americas
3. October 8, 1985: Palestinian Liberation Organization kills American Leon Klinghofffer aboard hijacked Achille Lauro
4. October 14, 1947: Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier

• accelerate
• consummate
• conveyance
• devastate
• disembark
• ecclesiastical
• grantor
• hijack
• intrepid
• invincible
• literally
• political asylum
• realm
• stoically
• voilà

Discussion Questions

1. The Great Chicago Fire quickly burned out of control and enveloped a large portion of the city. How and why did the fire spread so quickly? Why was the fire so devastating?

2. Legend has it that Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern and started the great fire. How did this rumor get started? What are the origins of this myth?

3. Irish immigration to the United States was in full swing in 1871. What does the myth of Mrs. O'Leary's cow and her role in the Chicago Fire reveal about attitudes toward Irish immigrants in that era?

4. How did Chicago rebound from the devastating tragedy to become one of the world's greatest cities?

5. We think of Columbus's voyage and other voyages of the Great Age of Exploration as noble undertakings, but they were actually capital ventures. Discuss how Columbus's voyage, and the voyages of other explorers, were business investments.

6. According to the narrator, "Fifteenth century Spain and Portugal were the Silicon Valleys of their time." What does this statement mean? What is the basis of this comparison?

7. Columbus was not searching for the Americas. What was he searching for and why?

8. How did Columbus convince King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his venture?

9. The hijacking of the Achille Lauro was an act of terrorism. What is terrorism? How is terrorism used to manipulate governments?

10. Members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization hijacked the ship. Why did they take over the ship? What were their demands?

11. The hijackers killed American Leon Klinghoffer. Why did they kill him?

12. How did the United States respond to this incident?

13. Test pilot Chuck Yeager was the first human to break the sound barrier. What is the sound barrier? Why was it so hard to break?

14. What were the implications of breaking the sound barrier? Why was it so important for the U.S. Airforce to break it?

15. Chuck Yeager joined the armed forces as a mechanic in 1941. How and why did he learn to fly planes?

16. Discuss the obstacles and dangers Chuck Yeager faced in his momentous feat.

17. What is a sonic boom? How does a sonic boom indicate the breaking of the sound barrier?

Extended Activities

1. Myths and legends are a large part of American history. Research American myths and legends on the Internet and use your data to create a pictorial representation of one of these stories.

2. Research life in Chicago in 1871 and write an essay about daily life in the Windy City during that era.

3. Trace the route of Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage.

4. How would you convince King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to finance the voyage? Write a letter to the king and queen requesting the funds for the trip.

5. Create a recruitment poster for the U.S. Navy Seals

6. Create a newspaper heading for October 14, 1947, that announces Chuck Yeager's achievement.

7. Research aviation history on the Internet and use your data to create a timeline that illustrates some of the major events in aviation history.