Blackout by John Rocco
One hot summer night in the city, all the power goes out. The TV shuts off and a boy wails, “Mommm!” His sister can no longer use the phone, Mom can’t work on her computer, and Dad can’t finish cooking dinner. What’s a family to do? When they go up to the roof to escape […]
Lights On! Ike Hoover Electrifies the White House by Cynthia Simmelink Becker
In 1891, nineteen-year-old Irwin “Ike” Hoover was sent by the Edison Electric Company to assist in the wiring of the White House for electric lights. Like many Americans at the time, President Benjamin Harrison and his wife were extremely afraid of electricity. In fact, the Harrisons were so afraid they didn’t want to turn the […]
Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives by Gene Barretta
What do record players, batteries, and movie cameras have in common? All these devices were created by the man known as The Wizard of Menlo Park: Thomas Edison. Edison is most famous for inventing the incandescent lightbulb, but at his landmark laboratories in Menlo Park & West Orange, New Jersey, he also developed many other […]