Plan Ahead

Be prepared if the day you plan on going is a free day – lots of kids and families will be taking advantage of that and will be more crowded than usual. If you’re going with kids, take advantage of this savings, but be aware of the crowds and set some ground rules up front.
Definitely try to decide when shows you’re interested in seeing are playing – like dolphin shows at an aquarium, star exhibits open at a planetarium, or new art galleries at art institutes.

Also, a wise museum goer might want to do some research on any monthly or seasonal themes that museums have going on. A Civil War theme next month and you are a Lincoln lover? Hold off on a visit until next month (or go twice!)

Consider Paying More

Seasonal exhibits or special speakers might be an extra charge, but if a museum visit is a once a year (or, even once in a lifetime, if you’re visiting that city for the first and or maybe last time), it might be worth paying up to see the show. Check reviews to make sure other visitors loved it!

Be Flexible

Going to any large venue where lots of other people are trying to do what you’re doing means compromise, waiting, and walking. While it’s a good idea to have a game plan up front, having a good attitude going in will ensure that you have the most fun, absorb the most information, and have the best experience.

Museums are fantastic sources of history, entertainment, and education. They cater to all audiences – families, couples, and individuals – and brings all kinds experiences, stories, and artifacts to life.

1. George Washington cracked walnut shells with his teeth as a youngster, losing all but one tooth before he became president. His teeth were made from anything but wood, including a combination of human teeth, animal teeth, and ivory.
2. Thomas Jefferson spoke six different languages and assembled a 10,000-book library, which became the foundation for the Library of Congress.
3. James Madison was the shortest and lightest president at 5’4″ and under 100 lbs. He also was the first president to wear long trousers. All previous presidents wore knee breeches.
4. James Monroe died on July 4, 1831, following the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1826. In 1820, Monroe was re-elected for a second term as president, receiving all the electoral votes but one, which William Plumer of New Hampshire cast for John Quincy Adams, in order, it is said, so that no one might share with George Washington the honor of a unanimous election.
5. Andrew Jackson was the first president to ride on a railroad train, the first to be born in a log cabin, the first president to be nominated by a political party, and the first president subject to an assassination attempt (he survived).
6. Martin Van Buren was the first American to become a president. All previous presidents were born on British colonial soil.
7. William Henry Harrison, who followed Van Buren into the White House, holds the record for the longest inauguration speech in history at 8,578 words within one hour and 40 minutes. Unfortunately, he gave the speech during a snowstorm. One month later he died from pneumonia, making his presidency the shortest on record.
8. James K. Polk was the 11th president and the first to serve a nation from coast to coast after expanding U.S. borders to the Pacific Ocean. He also issued the first postage stamp.
9. Millard Fillmore, considered one of the top 10 most techno-savvy U.S. presidents, was the first President to have a stove and a bathtub with running water in the White House.
10. James Buchanan, 15th president who served immediately before the American Civil War, quietly but consistently bought slaves in Washington DC and then set them free in Pennsylvania.
11. Abraham Lincoln was co-owner of Berry and Lincoln, a saloon in Springfield, Illinois. Berry took out a license for Lincoln and himself in 1833, permitting them to sell spirits, including liquor at 12 cents a pint.
12. Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached. In May, 1868, the Senate voted to acquit him by one vote short of the two-thirds required to convict. It would be another 131 years before another president, Bill Clinton, would be impeached. Both presidents were impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives, but acquitted by the Senate.
13. Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president, smoked at least 20 cigars a day and, after a brilliant war victory, a nation of well wishers sent him more than 10,000 cigars. He later died of throat cancer, making him the first U.S. president to die of cancer.
14. James A. Garfield could write with both hands at the same time – in different languages, Latin and Greek. He also was the last president born in a log cabin and the second president to be assassinated.
15. Chester A. Arthur changed his pants several times a day, and owned 80 pairs of pants. Gore Vidal described Arthur as “the most fastidious and fashionable president.”
16. Grover Cleveland was the first and only president married in the White House, and he was the first to have a child born in the White House in 1893.
17. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt once refused to shoot bear, and the story grew to make this bear a bear cub, shivering in fright. The incident was reported in the news, which inspired Morris Michtom to ask for permission from President Theodore Roosevelt to call these toy bears “Teddy’s bears.” Michtom’s store eventually became the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which eventually merged with Mattel.
18. Warren Gamaliel Harding, the 29th president, once gambled away a set of White House china. He also had an affair with Nan Britton, who later claimed she had borne Harding’s child. Speculation about his early and sudden demise included one rumor that his wife was so fed up with his philandering and gambling that she had him murdered.
19. Herbert Hoover made his most substantial humanitarian efforts after his presidency. His agencies fed famished countries during the Second World War. In 1946, Herbert Hoover led the Famine Emergency Commission. He would study the world’s crisis and prepare a program to deal with it. Hoover organized the food of the world to sustain several hundred million people until the next harvest.
20. Harry S (S.) Truman raised a controversy regarding his middle initial in 1962, when he stated that the “S” did not stand for any name. While some authors do not use it today, they must still use it when citing the names of organizations that employ the period in their legal titles (e.g. Harry S. Truman Library).
21. John F. Kennedy was the youngest elected president, the first Catholic president, and remains a hot topic among news publications that seek to resolve his assassination in Texas and the number of women he slept with.
22. Gerald R. Ford held his daughter’s high school prom in the White House in 1975. That daughter, Susan, also served as official White House hostess when her mother was hospitalized for breast cancer.
23. Jimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital. The oldest of four children, Carter’s family was unusual and often in the news. One sister rode motorcycles and had a son in jail; another sister was an evangelist; his only brother was an infamous peanut farmer and beer drinker. Both of Carter’s parents and all three siblings died from pancreatic cancer.
24. George H. W. Bush was awarded an honorary knighthood (GCB) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993. He was the third American president to receive the honor, the others being Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.
25. Bill Clinton narrowly escaped a 1996 assassination attempt in the Philippines by terrorists working for Osama bin Laden. His motorcade was re-routed and the US agents later discovered a bomb planted under the bridge in the original route.

Ancient History

Learn about the earliest history we know of. Also includes great blogs on archeology that can help you learn more about how people lived anciently.

1. Ancient Tides: This interesting blog links what happened in ancient history to what we see every day.
2. A Very Remote Period Indeed: A look at archeology, and an emphasis on hunter-gatherer society.
3. Monty’s World: A look at how archeology provides insight into ancient history. An interesting blog from an archeological adventurer.
4. Mike Anderson’s Ancient History Blog: Learn more about ancient history, and how it relates to the modern world.
5. Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog: Take a look at anthropology, and see how this science can help you learn more about ancient history.
6. Roger Pearse: Shares interesting thoughts on ancient history, with especially interesting insights on ancient manuscripts.

Classical History

Find out more about what was happening in the Classical period of history, focusing a great deal on Greece and Rome.

7. Roman Times: If you are interested in the Roman Empire, this is a great blog to visit.
8. Classics in Contemporary Culture: An emphasis on how we can see Classical history in action today.
9. Ancient/Classical History: Focuses a great deal on ancient Greece and Rome. Written by a Latinist, there is a great deal about Classical Rome.
10. Dorothy King’s PhDiva: This military history specialist looks especially at the Classical era.
11. UNRV History – Roman Empire: An academic look at the Roman Empire.
12. Tropaion: Looks at ancient Greek religion, and offers a modern look at incorporating some of the polytheistic beliefs into today’s life.
13. The Stoa Consortium: Considers ways that Classicists can connect using technology, including scholarship and more.

European History (Medieval and Renaissance)

Get a taste of the history of Europe. Many people enjoy learning about the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and these blogs can offer a great deal of insight.

14. Got Medieval: Fun blog that looks at the ways Medieval references are incorrectly used in popular media. Great critiques of how Medieval history is presented.
15. Medieval History Geek: Insight on Medieval history from an interested amateur.
16. Quod She: Information about Medieval history from an academic and a humanist.
17. In the Middle: A group of history buffs keeps this blog study group on the Middle Ages going.
18. Blogenspiel: Thoughts of a Medievalist.
19. Renaissance Lit: Early modern literature and history.
20. History and Women: Great look at Renaissance women who were ahead of their time.
21. Airs, Waters, Places: An interesting look at the environment during the 17th century.
22. Writing the Renaissance: This fiction writer uses the Renaissance as inspiration. Includes interesting observations on history.

South American and Mesoamerican History

Head down south in the Western Hemisphere. Learn more about South American and Mesoamerican culture and history.

23. Maya New Updates: Learn more about Maya history and culture.
24. Inca History Blog: Find out more about Inca history and culture.
25. The Mesoamerican Society at CSULA: Interesting finds, archeology and more regarding Mesoamerican history and culture.
26. The Daily Glyph: Looks at ancient history in the Americas.
27. Hernan Cortes: A look at Aztec history from the viewpoint of this conquistador.

Asian History

Asia boasts a long and rich history. Enjoy a journey into Oriental worlds and cultures.

28. SEAArch: This blog focuses on Southeast Asia archaeology news and includes interesting historical tidbits.
29. Frog in a Well: This interesting site offers three different blogs on Asian history, focusing on Korea, China and Japan.
30. Bridge to Bhutan: A great blog about history in Bhutan, including modern issues.
31. Nui’s Thai History Blog: Get a feel for Thailand with help from this history blog.
32. In Asia: A look at ancient and modern history in Asia.
33. Gusts of Popular Feeling: Korean culture and history add context to what is happening today.
34. Eating China: Food history and culture blog focusing on China.

Middle Eastern History

Explore the history of the Middle East. You can gain some understanding, and find out more about the history of this region.

35. Awilum: A look at the lands of the Bible.
36. Persia Older Than History: A look at the 9,000 years of Persian history and culture.
37. Egyptology News: Interested in Egypt? This blog offers news about Egyptian history up through the Coptic period.
38. Crossroads Arabia: Commentary and insight on Saudi Arabia, with a religious and historical perspective.
39. Middle East Progress: A look at current efforts in the Middle East, in context with the region’s history.
40. Informed Comment: A look at the Middle East from an academic perspective, including perspectives on history.
41. Invisible History Blog: A fascinating look at history and Afghanistan.

African History

Many believe that humans first arose in Africa. Get an idea of the history of the interesting and turbulent continent where all life began.

42. Africa is a Country: An interesting look at the history and development, as well as modern issues, affecting Africa.
43. African Kingdoms: An interesting look at the different civilizations that have existed on the African continent.
44. NaijaBlog: Concerns itself with culture, history and current events related to Africa.
45. SocioLingo Africa: A look at African culture, language and history, as well as modern history.
46. History Matters: South African history is the focus of this blog, which also includes current events.

Pacific Islands History

Journey into the exotic lands of the Pacific. Interesting island history from these blogs.

47. The Brown Raise Movement: Learn more about Filipino culture and history.
48. New Zealand History 1800 – 1900: Focus on New Zealand’s past.
49. Guma’Famoksaiyan: This blog looks at the cultural history and heritage of the indigenous people of Guam.
50. Indonesia History: Find out more about this group of islands located in the Pacific.

1. Jobs for History Majors: Learn from St. Francis College the many career paths taken by history majors.
2. Jan Schlictmann: Check out this Civil Action attorney. Attorneys are often history majors in their undergraduate years.
3. National Museum of National History: Check out the National Museum of National History. Working at a place like this assisting visitors is a great job for history majors.
4. Gil Vega: Gil Vega, a middle school history teacher, talks about his job. Many history majors become history teachers.
5. A Day in the Life of a History Teacher: See what the history teacher’s day is like.This one is pretty cute.
6. Art History: Check out the work of an expert in art history. This expert discusses Diego Rivera’s paintings.
7. Carlos Navarra: Navarra is an expert in art history. Learn what such experts do.
8. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum: Hear from the executive director of this historical museum. Museum Executive Director is a great job for a history major, especially if you have an advanced degree.
9. 10 Questions for Neil DeGrasse Tyson: Tyson is the director of Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. He talks about physics and his job.
10. The American Diner Museum: Check this place out – wouldn’t you love to be the Executive Director here?
11. UWSP Museum of Natural History: Learn about the UWSP Museum of Natural History.
12. Non profit Jobs: Learn about jobs in the non-profit field, one that is very popular with history majors.
13. Executive Jobs in Non-Profit: Learn about getting an executive job in the non-profit field.
14. History Comes Alive with the Night Watchman: This guy has a great job. He teaches people about the history of the nightwatchman job. He gets to play with all the historical toys and weapons as he teaches people about the past. His title is official historian of Bamberg.
15. Oklahoma Football’s Official Historian: Oklahoma Football’s official stat keeper and historian speaks. What a great job if you love history and football. This guy started as a fan.
16. The Secret UFO Files: This video was put together in part by the CIA’s official historian.
17. Jean Seaton: What is the BBC For? This information comes from Jean Seaton, the official historian of the BBC.
18. Chicago Tribune: Interview with David Fletcher, the proposed founder of the proposed Chicago Baseball Museum. Learn about Fletcher’s great job and about Jerome Holtzman, who was once the official historian of Major League baseball.
19. Video of Pat Schroeder: This video pays tribute to Pat Schroeder, a former member of ths US House of Representatives. This video was part of a tribute to Robert Remini, the official historian of the house.
20. Smithtown History: Learn about the history of Smithtown, from the town’s official historian, Brad Harris.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to use your history degree, though some of them might not seem like they relate as much to your field of study. If you really want one of the plum jobs in the history field, like being the curator or executive director at some sort of history museum, it’s important to consider your area of specialty well.

Specialties in history can be very precise, and it is often those with the most expertise in the most precise areas that get the best jobs. So, if there is an area of history that you love, specialize in that area and take your education in that area as far as you can go. There won’t be hundreds of jobs that appreciate your vast knowledge in your area, but you’ll be qualified for the very best jobs in that field.

History is not merely a summation of previous events, but instead its purpose is to show reasons for why and how these events happened and give perspective to pain, breakthroughs, war, associated with them. It tells that how explorers reached out and started sharing culture.

By making us more cognizant of how we got to this point, it teaches us how to continue to approach things in manners that work and refrain from committing a mistake repeatedly. History should help us learn lessons from our ancestors’ past mistakes. All you have to do is pick it up and read the best advice of all- the advice from experience.

When history is learned, the perspective of different countries and civilizations can be rediscovered. In most of the cases the custom and culture of a country can only be understood by first researching how they came about. As a result, it becomes much more integral for a person to know about their country’s culture, customs, and relations with other countries, as well as beliefs and attitudes about those places. This all they can only learn only after having ample knowledge in their village. The history of a country tells how it developed from phase to phase and survived despite all the odds and adversities that come about.

Knowing the history of a country tells about culture and ethnic diversity as to know its role. History helps in understanding that our position internationally, as a country, depends on the sacrifices made by our elders to make it how it is today. It helps in understanding our laws, as well as biases that develop. Without any understanding of history, no one can easily make any reference to these things.

The knowledge of a country’s history helps in a greater way as making any major decision or being a participant of any huge referendum exercise. Knowing about that country’s past and how it has reacted before could mean the difference between a victory and all out war. History of our country is an ingrained part of each of us.

• Institute of Historical Research: Founded in 1921 by A. F. Pollard, it is an important meeting place for researchers around the globe. It offers a state of the art open access library, conferences and seminars which are open to the public, the history lab and resources for historical research in both digital format and print.
• British History Online: Developed by the Institute of Historical Research and History of Parliament Trust, British History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles.
• World History: The Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University with the financial help from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation to create World History Sources. It focuses towards three areas like current world history scholarship, an emphasis on comparative issues contrary to civilizations alone and concentration on contacts among different societies and the economic, social and cultural consequences.
• Hyper History:  It is an exhaustive scientific project showcasing world history of 3,000 years with perspective of synchronoptic lifelines, timelines, and maps. In narrative it has expanded from rather simpler to more complex and complicated nature and behavior.
• History Link: It is a resource site for World History Classes and is divided into six categories like art, biographies, daily life, maps, pictures and research. Presently, it has the cultures/time periods of Prehistory, Africa, China, Egypt, Greece, Aztec, Mayan, Olmec, Native Americans, Mesopotamia, middle Ages and World War II with the aim to cover the entire scope of World History.
• Www-vl history central catalogue: This site is the World Wide Web Virtual Library History Central Catalogue is maintained by Serge Noiret at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy and provides all the best information and data on the topic and issues related to world history.
• World History Matters: It is a world portal to world history websites developed by the Center for History and New Media. It is a resource center designed to help high school and college world history teachers to have better understanding of history with reference to locate, analyze and learn from online primary resources
• History Guide: The History Guide has been prepared for the high school and undergraduate student who is either learning in history, or have desire to do major in history from a college. The basic utility and purpose of this History Guide is to better oneself for better equipping with history classes and to have time in history classes more enjoyable and proficient.

Just like Campus-based master of History programs, online History programs focus on the examination, analysis and research of theoretical concepts and impact of various events on the human society. It also helps students gain analytical skills for investigation and accurate reporting that will enable them have an understanding of different cultures and regions. Common online Master of History programs include Modern World, The Crusades, Visual Arts, Roman and Egyptian Cultures and much more.

An online master of History program requires two years to complete. Course hours depend with the program taken by a student though most of them have a maximum of hours of course work. With this degree the learner can get into various fields like teaching, working at a museum, researcher, writer of historical materials and as a corporate historian. It requires at least a semester of internship and may also require additional research projects or work-study components.

Many colleges offer online Master of History programs and most of them require the participation of the learner in discussion groups, review of video presentations and conferences. The learner downloads course materials and lectures which is accessible throughout and accesses libraries and databases at times that is convenient to them and uses emails and bulletin boards to submit their assignments. It offers a learning environment which is independent and whose pace can be set by the individual.

For those looking for Online Master of History programs, ensure that the online program has been accredited by the national or regional accreditation bodies as this determines the quality of the program in terms of competitiveness in the job market. Most of the online sites offer flexibility and ease of use but with varied rates. Look for sites that offer accessibility, support for the students and the faculty, assessment and evaluation capability as well as information and learning resources such as libraries.

Determine the field of specialization before venturing to look for an online program since different online universities offer different areas of specialization. Other Masters degree programs are designed for those who are working or who already have college credits while others allow students to Personalize their study plans to enable them meet their goals and fulfill their degree requirement. Thesis and non-thesis programs are also available but for those with future plans of pursuing a doctorate the thesis program is recommended.