Yesterday's News Brings Back Old Times

Do you remember getting the Current Events paper when you were in school? I was reading the Courier Archives of 92 years ago and noticed a paragraph concerning a dance at the Cherry Creek Schoolhouse. Part of the proceeds from the dance was to be used to pay the subscription to Current Events for the second semester of the school year. (I thought it rather interesting that the total income to be spent was $5.95).

The really fun thing about that item in the Courier was that I had just found a whole binder of Current Events from my school years. I do remember getting them in school, but like a lot of things from our past, I had forgotten just what type of articles were found in them. I have only had the inclination to scan through one of these treasurers of mine, but I did get a refresher on the history of the Panama Canal. We all remember, or know firsthand, fragments about the Panama Canal, but I never registered the fact that the French had originally attempted this canal and was defeated by the rampant tropical diseases in that area, such as malaria.

In 1903, the USA took over the job and finished it in 1914. However, March 1956 was the first time in 52 years that there was not a single case of malaria reported. It took many years, but the USA did not give up and succeeded in having some control over these tropical diseases.

I know that all of this information could be Googled, but it is way more fun to remember history by finding all that historical information in your own backyard, so to speak.