On This Day in History

by Leonard Spinrad and Thelma Spinrad

Book Overview

Presents quotations, commentary, and historical facts of more than 1,500 milestones in history. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0735200645
• ISBN13: 9780735200647
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Press
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great book!

I've never posted a review before, but when I noticed the errors in the previous review, I felt compelled to come to the defense of one of my favorite books. I found this book to be remarkably insightful, engaging, and accurate. Its day-by-day is a fresh way to look at history. Now, as for those errors:According to Gregory Titelman's, "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" `Nero fiddled while Rome burned' refers to "...heedless and irresponsible behavior in the midst of a crisis." Legend has it that in A.D. 64 the emperor Nero (A.D. 37 - A.D. 68), last of the Caesars, set fire to Rome to see `how Troy would look when it was in flames' and to serve as suitable background for a recitation of his poetry while accompanying himself on the lyre..." For the sake of acuracy, should all disctionaries of popular sayings be amended to: Nero lyred while Rome burned?Norkay is not incorrect. If the writer were familiar with the differences between Wade-Giles and pinyin translations into English, he'd know that Norkay is Wade-Giles, Norgay is pinyin, and both are simply alternative translations from Nepalese which does not use the western alphabet.As for the nuclear testing not occuring at Los Alamos, virtually every text on the subject correctly cites the tests as having occurred at Los Alamos. Of course they didn't do them in the lab. Of course they took them out into their back yard (way out into their back yard). However, the point is, the tests were conducted from the Los Alamos lab. They were analyzed in the Los Alamos lab. They we conducted by the Los Alamos Lab. Is it such a crucial piece of history that the actual explosion took place far enough away that it didn't obliterate the lab? Or is it simply a point of pride to the critic that he's aware of this inconsequential and obvious historical footnote. If every detail of every event were included in this book, you'd need a forklift to open it.As for the US Air Force being the US Army Air Force prior to 1947, he's right. However, at that time, it was commonly referred to as the US Air Force. According to the back cover, there are over 10,000 entries in this book. If those are the most glaring points this armchair critic could cite, it seems like he should have given the book five stars, as I did. I love this book.

On This Day in History

As a home-educating mom, I am constantly on the lookout for non-textbook, non-traditional ways to introduce my children to historical events and people. This book fits the bill to a T! It is a simple and painless way to learn a little bit about a lot of things and has sparked some great discussions in the short time that we have been reading it. A must for all home educators!

Informative and engaging!

I love the fact that the authors give details behind the events on each of the days. It's thoroughly researched and well-written. It makes this book very hard to put down.