Clouds Over Cuba - intense interactive history lesson about Cuban Missile Crisis

Clouds Over Cuba is a new interactive history lesson about the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is a multimedia documentary on the Cuban Missile crisis and was just released, 50 years to the day that JFK learned that the Soviets were building missile sites in Cuba.

The project was developed by the Martin Agency for the JFK Presidential Library and Museum. This group also produced "We Choose the Moon" web site about the space race.

The interactive film has archival footage and goes through the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis and how it almost ended with nuclear war. There is a huge amount of information and resources available including the 26 minute documentary film and in-depth information on different topics, photos, actual documents and audio recordings and more. There are interviews with experts on each topic also.

The really interesting parts of this project include a digital dossier that will save any material you view so that you can access it at any time, including via smartphone. You can also sync your iCal and Google Calendars with it and you will get notifications of the 13 most critical days of the crisis and even virtually attend meetings held on those days about the situation.

There is also an additional film that looks at what life today might be like if nuclear war had occurred instead of the actual resolution to the crisis.

This is an excellent project and is a great resource.

Even if you are not a teacher or student of history, this is a site to check out. http://www.cloudsovercuba.com/

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Google Cultural Institute - explore and learn about history in a new way

This week Google announced 42 new exhibitions in the Google Cultural Institute. They are a collection of online historical exhibitions, that tell the stories behind major events of the last 100 years. Events include D-Day, the Holocaust, Apartheid, and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

There are 42 exhibitions on here and they were all created by Google, museums, and cultural foundations. There are letters, manuscripts, video interviews and much more.

The thing that sets these apart from other historical collections is that they include more of the human side of the events and dive into different perspectives. This is a great resource for history classes.

Each exhibition features a narrative which links the archive material together to unlock the different perspectives, nuances and tales behind these events. Among others you’ll see:
Tragic love at Auschwitz - the story of Edek & Mala, a couple in love who try to escape Auschwitz
Jan Karski, Humanity’s hero - first-hand video testimony from the man who attempted to inform the world about the existence of the Holocaust
Faith in the Human Spirit is not Lost - tracing the history of Yad Vashem’s efforts to honor courageous individuals who attempted to rescue Jews during the Holocaust
Steve Biko - a 15-year-old’s political awakening in the midst of the Apartheid movement featuring nine documents never released in the public domain before
D-Day - details of the famous landings including color photographs, personal letters and the D-Day order itself from Admiral Ramsay
The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - an account of the 1953 Coronation including color photographs
Years of the Dolce Vita - a look at the era of the “good life” in Italy including the fashion, food, cars and culture

The Google Cultural institute also includes the Art Project and World Wonders collections. These collections all help to preserve historical material and make it more accessible to the world.

These are excellent resources for educators to use with their students.

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Giza 3D - great, interactive 3D recreation of the Great Pyramids

Gaza 3D is a very cool project that recreates the Great Pyramids in 3D online to view in your web browser.   It is a collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Harvard University, and Dassault Systems (who make lots of great products including CATIA CAD systems).

The project is historically accurate and based on scholarly data. Documents from an expedition at the Giza pyramids were digitized and used to create the simulation.

There is a guided interactive tour on the site through 10 different areas on the Giza plateau with photos, object galleries and links to historical documents. You can zoom around the areas and click on object for more information.

This is a great resource for teachers and students studying the Great Pyramids in history or engineering classes to be able to explore them online. There is a tremendous amount of information here and it is a fun way to explore the Giza plateau.

Check it out: http://giza3d.3ds.com/#discover



Technical Note: You have to download a plugin to use it (the site will link you to it) and on Mac you will need to use Firefox in 32-bit mode. A broadband internet connection is also strongly recommended.

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WhatWasThere - historical photos linked to Google Maps - visit the past!

WhatWasThere is an excellent resource for geography, history, and fun. It connects historical photos to Google Maps, letting you see what places looked like in the past. You can tour locations, browse photos and even upload your own historical photos.

This is a great way to explore the world historically, or just take a look at what your hometown looked like in the past. Social Studies, History, and Geography classes could use this as learning activities or projects.

Here is a photo of the Frisbee Pie Company from the early 1900's. Their pie plate throwing contest led to the original Frisbee.

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PowerPoint Palooza - over 220 PowerPoints on History/Social Studies

PowerPoint Palooza is a site that has over 220 PowerPoint presentations from teachers and students on History and Social Studies topics, that you can download and edit and use in your classroom (just give credit to the original creator).

This is a great resource for teachers and students to find some presentations on different topics in history. While I don't advocate teaches do lots of lecture, they can be used effectively in a classroom.

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CIA World Factbook - excellent resource about countries of the world

The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) World Factbook is an incredible resource about the countries of the world. It's free and available online and you can also download a copy for offline viewing and access. Older versions (back to 2000) are also available, which can be good for history teachers looking for older information.

The site has information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. The Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.. It's a great resource to find out information about the countries of the world and the CIA is constantly updating it.

Check it out and share it with your students. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

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