Did America Create Fireworks, Too?

America is known for many things. We won the Revolutionary War, we defeated the Japanese in World War II, we conquered the Great Plains, plus more. We are also know for our ingenuity. I have to say, we have created quite a lot of stuff. From the atomic bomb to new battle strategies, we are a creative bunch.

In 1873, an Illinois farmer named Joseph Glidden created barbed wire on his kitchen table. Now sure I can make an owie fence, too, but the fact that an American made it is what really matters and besides, that's something I probably wouldn't think of making. Within ten years, a billion acres of the mid-west are parceled up by half a billion miles of barbed wire. That was a pretty ingenious idea. I can see where it was more helpful then to keep cows out of your yard, but it's still used today. They still use barbed wire to keep the cows in their pasture, but now it is also used on other places too, to keep the robbers away.

In 1879, Thomas Edison invents the electric light bulb. It would soon get a thousand patents. It's almost funny to think about how the light bulb has helped us. It is really helpful. Before the light bulb we had to go try and kill whales to get whale oil. He also created the first commercial power grid. In two years, he sets up 5,000 power plants. Five more years and he creates a further 127,000. The power plants are the ones giving the power to the light bulb so we have it to thank for the light bulb's light. It wouldn't be a light bulb without the light. Then it would just be a useless bulb.

In the 1940s, a single computer was the same size as a Greyhound bus with the same power as a modern PC. It needed as much power as a small town. Many people didn't believe the computer would go very far. Trust me, I don't think I can fit a school bus in my bedroom. In 1976, in a garage in northern California, two computer hobbyist, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, create the first practical, personal, computer (PC). In the 1980's there are just 300,000 PCs, but in the 1990s there are 67,000,000. I thought the 300,000 was a big number, well, compared to the people in the US that number is tiny.

America has created a lot of things. As I'm typing I am thinking of more. We would probably top on the list of "country that has invented the most stuff." I wouldn't be amazed if America had invented fireworks, too. Happy Fourth of July!

The People Who Really Won America

We recently finished our History Channel documentary America: the Story of Us, and since I wanted to do a Fourth of July post, I decided to tie them in with each other. I think that the biggest part of our culture is our rebellious spirit and our willing to fight for what we believe in. This can be demonstrated through the actions of the Pilgrims, the colonists, and the slaves.

The Pilgrims went a long way to insure this country came into existence. They went 3,000 miles to be exact. The Pilgrims pretty much sold everything they had to go to a place where there was nothing there. They did it all for religious freedom. Thousands of people died of diseases, starvation, and animals they did not know about. However, they found ways to survive with the help of the Indians, and kept on going with life without even thinking of trying to go back to England.

The colonists were probably the biggest rebels in history. They started with small riots like the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre and then started the Revolutionary War to establish their country. The colonists fought the British for seven years and 25,700 people died, but they never gave in or said, "Fine you can have this place." They fought it out and were able to have that freedom the Pilgrims always dreamed about.

The slaves were also very rebellious. Harriet Tubman even went back and helped other slaves after she escaped through the Underground Railroad. The Civil War was then fought until the Confederate states submitted and the Thirteenth Amendment was signed. Even after the Civil War, racism still continued, and people rioted often against racism until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed to prevent it. Because of the rebels like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., racism is now much less. We even have the first black president because of these people's struggles.

Along with these rebellious successes, many other rebellions helped America like the Vietnam War protests, and other slightly more violent protests in which many people lost their lives defending their beliefs like the Kent State Riots. Either way, rebels are definitely a major part of the American culture, and I am proud to be one of them.