Museums, Volcanoes, and and Plessy v. Ferguson - May 18

You Never Know What You Might Find Learning

Monday, May 18, 2026

Today is National Museum Day, Mother Whistler Day, National Cheese Soufflé Day, National No Dirty Dishes Day, and National Visit Your Relatives Day.

Today's Birthdays
Songs of the Day
Poem of the Day
Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Resource of the Day
Today's Theme: Museums, Volcanoes, and Plessy vs. Ferguson

ON THIS DATE

• 1756 - Great Britain declares war on France and starts the Seven-Year War.
• 1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French.
• 1860 - Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party's presidential nomination over William Seward.
• 1863 - The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
• 1896 - The  Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the "separate but equal" doctrine is constitutional.
• 1912 - The first Indian feature film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released.
• 1917 - The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed.
• 1926 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.
• 1927 - Forty-five people, including children, are killed in the Bath School Disaster, by bombs planted by a school-board member in Bath Township, Michigan.
• 1933 - FDR  signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
• 1953 - Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
• 1980 - Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people.

BIRTHDAYS

• 1048 - Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer Omar Khayyám
• 1822 - Photographer Mathew Brady
• 1872 - British mathematician, philosopher, and historian Bertrand Russell
• 1897 - Director and producer Frank Capra
• 1905 - Pilot Ruth Alexander
• 1911 - Blues and R&B singer Big Joe Turner
• 1930 - U.S. Senator from NH  Warren Rudman
• 1952 - Country singer George Strait
• 1952 - Pilot Jeana Yeager
• 1970 - Actor, producer, and writer Tina Fey
• 1979 - Swedish video game designer (Minecraft) Jens Bergensten

SONGS OF THE DAY 

• Don McLean - Vincent - LISTEN
• David Bowie - Andy Warhol - LISTEN
• Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle, & Roll - LISTEN

POEM OF THE DAY 

• Omar Khayyam - A Book of Verses Underneath the Bough

ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH RESOURCE OF THE DAY
Asian American - Early South Asian Immigration

THEME:  Museums

• Grades PreK-1 - NHPBS LearningMedia - A Trip to the Art Museum -  Everyday Learning (2:38) - VIEW and DO
• Grades PreK-1 - NHPBS LearningMedia - KidVision - Art Museum (8:28) - VIEW and DO
• Grades PreK-1 - NHPBS LearningMedia - Science Museum Field Trip (7:31) - VIEW and DO
• Grades 1-2 - NHPBS LearningMedia - Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum Collection - VIEW, READ, DO
• Grades 1-2 - PBS KIDS - Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum Website - VIEW, READ, and DO
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - Inside the Met Series - VIEW   
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - Art Assignment - Remake The Met  (9:20) - VIEW
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - The Origins of Everything - The Problem with Museums (12:14) - View
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - Maine Mineral and Gem Museum (9:26)  - VIEW
• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - Museums Creating Community (26:40)  - VIEW

THEME: Volcanoes 

• Grades PreK-12 - National Park Service - Hawaii Volcanoes Live Streams -  VIEW
• Grades PreK-12 - Live From Iceland - Volcano Web Cams - VIEW
• Grades 4-6 - PBS LearningMedia - Science Trek - Volcanoes! - VIEW and DO
  Grades 4-6 - PBS LearningMedia - Science Trek - What Makes a Volcano Different - VIEW and DO
• Grades 5-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Nova - Meet the Volcanoes (2:57) - VIEW
• Grades 5-12 - USGS - Volcano Monitoring - MONITOR
• Grades 5-12 - NHPBS Video - Eons - How Volcanoes Froze the Earth...Twice (10:29) - VIEW
• Grades 5-12 - NHPBS Video - Nova - Killer Volcanoes (54:00) - VIEW

THEME: Plessy v. Ferguson

• Grades 5-12 - NHPBS Video - Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson (14:10) - VIEW
• Grades 6-12 - Oyez - Plessy v. Ferguson - READ
• Grades 6-12 - National Archives - Plessy v. Ferguson - READ
• Grades 5-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Plessy v. Ferguson and Resource Materials - READ
• Grades 9-12 - PBS LearningMedia - The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow - Plessy v. Ferguson (3:36) - VIEW, READ, DO

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