Holy cow - two stumpers??? lol. OK, think I know the answer to #1. Must think about #2 - I had heard that the facts were a bit stretched for the story. See ya'll after work!

Nancy.

Oh, and Nancy and I decided to focus on the Fourth of July and Canada Day this weekend. Hope everyone is enjoying wonderful weather.

Cynthia

I'm going to guess the simplest possibility: the bell cracked while celebrating our independence from Britain. That's about the best I can do. Some of us science-math types are seriously challenged in other areas. Most other areas, in my case.

TM

I think I knew about the bell at one time unfortunately my brain has deleted it, as for the flag question I seem to think it was a teenager who designed it but can't say for sure :(.

Annette

Did you know that it was rung to announce the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April 1775? Although many do think it was rung on or around the 4th of July, it wasn't. The public reading wasn't until July 8th. The Declaration was adopted by the Congress and sent to the printer on July 4th (independence declared by Congress on July 2nd). Apparently the steeple was in such disrepair then, that it wasn't safe to ring the bell.

John Adams thought Americans would celebrate Independence Day on July 2nd. We used to go into Washington to watch the fireworks. Then, we moved to our side of the river with a wonderful view of the city monuments, especially the Washington Monument-well, actually the Lincoln, Washington, and Capitol all lined up in a row-best view ever. Now, we stay home.

I don't remember the details but I remember that the Liberty Bell cracked on its first use in Philadelphia. It was later recast, once or twice?, and cracked again much later, maybe mid 1800s.

No idea on the flag question.

You're getting closer, Bobbie. Yes, mid-1800s was when the final irreparable crack occurred. Here's a clue, but maybe too obvious. It happened on Monday, February 23, 1846.

I am having fun coming up with trivia questions. I want to save the history ones for my students! I need to get better at giving clues if I expect anyone to win the contest, though.

You're getting closer, Bobbie. Yes, mid-1800s was when the final irreparable crack occurred. Here's a clue, but maybe too obvious. It happened on Monday, February 23, 1846.

I am having fun coming up with trivia questions. I want to save the history ones for my students! I need to get better at giving clues if I expect anyone to win the contest, though.

OK, I was wrong about the bell...8( oh well.

As to the flag - The stars represents the states, yes? Now the stripes may have me stumped. A co-worker said that they represent the 13 colonies....and that the 2 colours represented something else....how'm I doing so far?

Nancy.

Nancy, you are right (the stars are states, the 13 stripes are for the original 13 colonies and despite lots of other meanings for the colors, I bet they just chose the same colors as Great Britain-ha), but what I meant was how did the design for the newest flag with stars for Alaska and Hawaii come about. When new states are added, the stars need to be reconfigured. So how was the current design chosen? Jeepers, I am terrible at this! You are all way too nice.

How was work Nancy? Not too bad I hope.

Cynthia

Yes, the stars represent the states and the stripes represent the original 13 colonies. I think the colors do not represent anything.

Sorry, cyn, your clue didn't help me. The thing I remember about Feb 23 is that is the day the US flag was raised on Iwo Jima by US soldiers. No where near the same time frame.

Hmmmm, don't you guys celebrate president's birthday in February, so did it crack on George Washington's Birthday? We use to travel to Roseburg Oregon around this holiday about a 10 hr. trip for us, those were fun times.

Annette

Washington's birthday is Feb. 22. Don't know when they celebrated his birthday in l842. When I was younger it was always celebrated on the 22nd. Nowadays we have President's Day which is the closest Monday and we celebrate Washington and Lincoln. Most gov. holidays have been moved to Monday's.

With the tradition of tolling bells when someone dies maybe it was to announce someone's death.

1. I guess the Philadelphians objected to ringing the bell on a Sunday. We had blue laws even when I was young in the 1950s and no stores were open. From ushistory.org:

The most famous crack in history, the zig-zag fracture occurs while the Liberty Bell is being rung for Washington's birthday.

The Philadelphia Public Ledger takes up the story in its February 26, 1846 publication: "The old Independence Bell rang its last clear note on Monday last in honor of the birthday of Washington and now hangs in the great city steeple irreparably cracked and dumb. It had been cracked before but was set in order of that day by having the edges of the fracture filed so as not to vibrate against each other ... It gave out clear notes and loud, and appeared to be in excellent condition until noon, when it received a sort of compound fracture in a zig-zag direction through one of its sides which put it completely out of tune and left it a mere wreck of what it was."

Some historians believe that a squabble over money led to this final crack. Christ Church claimed an exclusive priviledge of ringing the bells on Washington's Birthday, as that was the church Washington was affiliated with while he lived in Philadelphia. The city paid the church a $30 bell-ringing fee for "service to the illustrious dead."

However, in 1846, it seems other churches wanted in on the action. Why should Christ Church get all the money and glory? The debate was played out in the newspapers. Ultimately it was decided to press the Liberty Bell into service and discontinue paying for patriotism.

Gotta love those Philadelphia politicians.

2. Now, I did think someone might just guess this one. From the Farmer's Almanac:

Old Glory
Did you know, that there have been 28 versions of the U.S flag to date, and that the most recent one, designed after Alaska and Hawaii joined the union, was the result of a school project? Robert Heft was 17 when he came up with the flag design in 1958. He originally got a B- on the project, but when his pattern won the national competition to become the next flag, his teacher raised his grade to an A.
Smart teacher!

Have a wonderful 4th everyone.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stars (and Stripes) for you all!

Got so busy cutting and pasting (remember, techno-idiot here) that I forgot to give Bobbie and Annette their stars.

Five for you both on the bell question *****
Three more for Annette for remembering that it was a teenager who designed the flag ***

Thanks for playing!

There's what I get for not coming back - no stars!!! lol.

Great questions, Cyn!!

Thanks for the stars Cyn, I had that tidbit of info on the teenager tucked away in the recesses but G.W. was just a lucky guess. Like a lot of canadians I know more about the U.S.A than I know about Canada.

Annette