Meet The Beatles

The Beatles were a very famous band. It is the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles' first trip to America. There is a monument at JFK airport for them as their arrival there was greeted by a lot of hysteria. Their most famous appearance was on the Ed Sullivan show. The Ed Sullivan show was a variety show, which is the type of television show where famous people and regular people do acts on a stage--the theater is in midtown Manhattan and is currently used by David Letterman. The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show three times in 1964. The first time was on February 9th. 73 million people saw that show, a U.S. T.V. record at the time. Some of the songs that they played on the Ed Sullivan were All My Loving, I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You . The Beatles toured the rest of the country--and the world--in 1964. On this date 50 years ago they played in Pittsburgh. The Beatles are my favorite band. I just wanted to write about them since they came to America 50 years ago. Pilar.

Rome Part Two

Since Rome has so many interesting places I decided to break this up into at least 2 parts. This time I decided to write about the secrets of Rome. They are very interesting. My first secret will be about the Mouth of Truth. The Mouth of Truth, which is located in a patio of the Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church, is made out of pavonazzo marble and is carved like a face. There is a legend that if you told a lie while your hand was in the mouth your hand would be bitten off. The landmark was made famous for English speaking audiences from the movie Roman Holiday. In France at Parc Asterix a replica of the mouth of truth is a bin and when you throw garbage down its throat it will thank you. There are also many replicas of the mouth of truth in other parks. Secret number 2 is a keyhole. Now there is a catch. The secret is that if you look through it you can see St Peters Basilica[where the pope lives]. To Romans the keyhole is called the hole of Rome. No key is required to look in. The keyhole is not in a spot next to other tourist destinations but is a walkable distance from the Roman Forum. The keyhole and the Mouth of Truth are 2 remarkable places to see if you go to Rome. Pilar

Rome Part 1

I decided to write my first history post about Rome because it is one of my favorite places in the world. Rome is not just any place, it is one of the oldest places in the world. When you think about Rome you may think about one of its most famous structures, the Colisseum or Colosseum. It can be spelled either way. When it was constructed, it was complete like a modern-day stadium. But, over time, the stones of the Colisseum were used to make other buildings. What remains is still awesome. In the Colisseum gladiators would fight, usually after lunch. They would fight wild beasts with the sword or other gladiators with a choice of weapons. There were 5 different categories of gladiators [you could tell which was which because of their armor and fighting techniques]. The gladiator styles were Scissor, Murmillo, Secutor, Retiarius and Tharex. Visiting the Colisseum was amazing and educational. One of my other favorite sites in Rome are the Spanish Steps. They were made famous to the American audience by the movie Roman Holiday featuring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. There are 135 steps. People mistake the drainage system for the first step. The steps were designed by the little known Francisco de Sanctis. The fountain in front of it is part of the Piazza di Spanga. In the piazza, at the bottom of the steps, is where the English poet John Keats lived and died. I do not know who John Keats was but my Dad seemed to have read his poetry. On Christmas each year they place a 19th century crib on the first landing of the stairs. --Pilar [more to come]

Welcome to A Girl's Guide to History

Hi my name is Pilar. I am 9 years old. My school does not do history as a subject and I feel bad about that because I love history. So I decided to start a blog about history for girls my age--but anyone can view it. I hope you like it.:]