History

There were many amazing things about the ancient world, the most amazing of which were the seven wonders. The famous Greek historian Herodotus wrote this list of wonders. The seven wonders of the ancient world are the Colossus of Rhodes, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

In 282 BC, the people of the island of Rhodes began building a colossal statue of the sun god Helios; they built the 105-foot-tall statue next to a harbor. This will later become known as the Colossus of Rhodes. The Colossus was built with bronze, reinforced with iron, and weighted with stones. The statue stood for more than four hundred years until 226 BC, when the statue snapped at the knees and was toppled by an earthquake. The people of Rhodes traveled to Delphi to consol the Oracle of Delphi. An Oracle is a mythological figure that could predict the future. The Oracle suggested that the colossal statue fell because the people of Rhodes had offended Helios.

The Great Pyramids of Giza are the only seven wonders of the ancient world that still stand today. They were built in 2570 B.C. and took an estimated 20 years to build and took as many as 100,000 workers to build. The pyramids were built as a burial complex for the 4th dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu. The outermost part of the pyramid was made of highly polished white limestone. All the limestones were so bright that some people believed they could be seen from the moon. The pyramids were eventually loosened by an earthquake, and the fallen blocks were used to build cities and mosques. Surprisingly, the pyramid stood, and we continue to have this amazing structure today.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is, for me, one of the most interesting wonders because it is questioned if it even existed. Historians say that the gardens were built in 600 BC and destroyed by an earthquake 374 years later in 226 BC. The gardens were believed to have been built by King Nebuchadrezzar II for his wife because she missed the gardens of her home. Where the gardens were built is debated. Some researchers say that they were built as an elaborate series of rooftop gardens, but others say that they were built on the walls of the royal palace. The question of how such a luscious garden could survive in the middle of the desert has been asked by many, but recent excavations have suggested the use of an exceptional system of irrigation using a cellar well in conjunction with a chain pump to raise the water to the gardens. Some historians even argued that the gardens weren’t built in Babylon at all but were built by Sennacherib on the eastern bank of the Tigris River. Whether the hanging gardens even existed at all is still a mystery, but the idea of its grandeur was enough to be put on the list of these wonders.

The statue of Zeus at Olympia was built around 430 BC at Olympia, Greece by the Greek sculptor Phidias. The statue of Zeus was a whopping 40 feet tall, was carved of ivory, and sat on a throne of cedarwood. The statue was carved with a lot of detail, such as a life-size statue of the Greek goddess Nike in his right hand and a large scepter topped with an eagle in his left hand. In 426 BC. The temple was destroyed by a fire, and the statue was thought to be destroyed by the fire too until historians suggested that the statue was moved to Constantinople, which is now modern-day Turkey, and destroyed 50 years later.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was built in 550 BC in Ephesus, Turkey by King Croesus of Lydia and stood for 194 years before falling to a fire in 356 BC. One thing that set the temple apart from the others was its size; the temple was at least twice the size of the Parthenon, the temple's foundation was over 180 by 350 feet, and its steps led to a high platform on which stood more than one hundred beautifully sculptured columns that supported its roof. Unlike most other temples of the time, it was built of marble and glittered with gold. Many great works of art were housed in the temple, but the most famous was the statue of Artemis herself. The statue no longer exists but was thought to be made of gold and other beautiful materials; she also had animals covering her legs. Although destroyed and rebuilt many times and ultimately left to be destroyed by man, nature, and neglect, the most famous version of the temple was destroyed by arson committed by a man named Herostratus on the night Alexander the Great was born.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was built as a tomb for Mausolus, a governor in the Persian Empire, in 352 BC. Mausolus’ wife hired well-known Greek architects and artists to design and build the tomb along with sculptural reliefs for each of the four sides of the building. The tomb was almost square and nearly 14 stories tall; the base was over 10,000 square feet. Nine massive columns lined each side of the tomb, and the top was a stepped pyramid on which stood by a four-horse marble chariot in which there were images of Mausolus and Artemisia. A series of earthquakes destroyed the tomb in 1404 AD after this wonder stood for nearly 17 centuries.

Located on the island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria stood the oldest lighthouse ever built. Lighthouse of Alexandria. It was built in 280 BC and was destroyed by an earthquake in 1323 AD. The lighthouse was different from other modern lighthouses in the fact that it was built in three stages and sloping inward. The lighthouse was built of marble blocks with lead mortar, the lowest was square, the next octagonal, and the top was cylindrical. Inside the lighthouse was a ramp and "dumbwaiter" that allowed wood to be transported to the fire that burned at night. A large curved mirror was inside the open top of the lighthouse to reflect the natural sunlight during the day and the fire at night. It is said that the light was so bright that mariners could see it from 35 miles away, and legend has it that the light was so bright that it could be used to burn enemy ships. There are many theories on the lighthouse’s demise, but the most likely reason is believed to be as many as 22 earthquakes between 320 AD and 1323 AD which led to its decommission.

Only one of these seven wonders is still standing today, but they were all great enough to make it to this list of engineering marvels.

Saint Peter School has been around for a while, but do you know who founded the school? The School was first created by a group of nuns and a priest named Father John Flatley. The nuns were 5 being part of the Convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame, with their names being Sister Mary Isaiah, Superior; Sister Mary Basilissa; Sister Mary Joanella; Sister Mary Freida; and Sister Mary Dosithea. They all came together with Father Flatley to create our school. Soon, Father Flatley passed away and was replaced. Then, after a few years, he was moved. The school then strived to add other extra-curricular subjects, but the sisters continued and soon passed. 

However, the convent was thriving and now works with street children in Nairobi, refugees in London, immigrant farm workers in Florida, etc. It has also reached Cleveland, Ohio, and the Midwest. These people have devoted their lives to praising God, but you don't have to. Can you dedicate just 20 minutes to praying the rosary for me?

Blue LEDs have a long history, but first, you must learn what LED means. LED  means Light-Emitting- Diode. Now that you know what LED means, I will tell you what was the first  LED and what came next. First was the red light-emitting- diode, which was fairly easy. Then, it was the green light-emitting diode, which was a little bit harder. But the hardest one of all was the blue light-emitting diode. Almost impossible, if I may say. In this article, you will know why and how we have blue LEDs nowadays.

It all started when a scientist made the first LED. It was red. Then, another scientist made the green LED. A couple of years after that, scientists knew that if LEDs were going to make any success, they would have to find the blue LED, but if they did not find it, LEDs would never exist. ‘ But why?’  you might say. If they found the blue LED, they would ‘ unlock’ new colors like white, violet, and magenta. Because everybody knew that, all the companies worldwide were rushing to find the blue LED. If a company got it, they would win about $200,000,000. You might even say, ‘But why all that money?’. If they found it, all the companies would turn on ‘ max’ or ‘ full’  production.

When all the companies were searching for the blue LED, a young scientist named Shuji Nakamura was working for a company named Nichia Chemicals.  The company did not have a lot of money. The company was making semiconductors. Some people even teased Nakamura cause they thought that the hours he spent in his office were useless. But he remained strong. He kept on trying new things. He had hope, perseverance, and confidence and persevered no matter what others said about him. It even strengthened him to have more perseverance. 

You know the feeling that happens when you can’t do it anymore? It is like, ‘ I can’t do this anymore.’ That is exactly how Nakamura felt. So he went to the U.S. because there was a company that made MCVDs. MCVD made a pure sapphire.

Even the people in the MCVD company teased him because he didn't have a PhD. He didn’t lose hope, though. Even though he spent most of his time assembling and disassembling MCVDs, he found it boring at first, but then he experimented. After a year, he went back to Japan. 

He had enough knowledge gained from going to America. Back in Japan, he went to school to do a PhD. He wanted to make the LED, but if he did not, it would be okay because he could at least have a PhD. So he headed on to the university to do a PhD. 

When he finally finished his PhD, he went to his ‘ home’ company and did exactly what he did in America. He woke up at seven in the morning and went to bed at nine at night. He did this for a very long time. He did it daily, with no weekends or holidays ( except for New Year's and Christmas).

He did this for about twenty years, not giving up. Twenty years is a very long time, I think. But you must know two groups before I tell you what he discovered.

The two groups were elements. One of them was the Zinc Nitride. The other one was Gallium Nitride. Everybody thought that Zinc could win, but two other people and Shiro Nacumura were trying the Gallium Nitride. Everybody thought that zinc could win because it had fewer defects than Gallium. The first step was to make a perfect sapphire out of Gallium. The two other people succeeded first, but then Shiro succeeded. Nacumura’s trick? He used an MCVD to make a sapphire. He added an extra nozzle on the top to blow gas.

There were three problems in total. He had only solved one, and he had two left. It had taken him so many years to solve the first problem that he wasn’t even sure he wanted to continue. But he made up his mind and went to continue. 

The reason why they thought that zinc selenide would win is because it had fewer defects per square inch. Gallium nitride had way more defects per square inch, about 100,000 more than zinc selenide. You might say, ‘How and why did Shiro pick gallium nitride?’ Well, you see, there is a simple answer. If you were a scientist, you could choose which one. No need for any contracts! Shiro Nakamura chose gallium nitride because he wanted to take a risk. This might have been the biggest risk ever taken by him. Why? Because it could take about 50 years to accomplish it.

He had now passed the second problem and was on the third. Before I tell you what the third problem is, it is the intensity.

     You see, electrons must jump from ‘ seat’ to ‘ seat’. Seats are positioned on ‘ bands’ . If you reduce every seat and band, you get two bands: the valence band and the conduction band. The valence band is empty. There are no electrons, and all seats are empty. Do you know what I mean by ‘ seat’? I mean free spaces for electrons to jump and create a little electricity. There are more than 100,000,000 free spaces. In the conduction band, though, there are no empty seats. Electrons have no space to jump and create an electric charge. The conduction band and the valence band are close enough so that electrons can jump.

The negative is on the left side, and the positive side is on the right. Waves can curve to make different colors, but scientists could not find a specific curve for the color blue. Plus, if they found a curve, they would also have to have a good length between the conduction and valence band. 

This was the third problem. As you may have noticed, I skipped the second problem. This is because you have to understand the two bands. ‘ Can I know what the second problem is?’ Well, I’m not done with the third problem and its solution. 

Shiro solved the third problem by switching the positive and negative, creating its own curve and intensity. This was perfect. Or almost. The electrons could move but could not jump from band to band. This was solved already cause this was the second problem, so it was perfect. But now I’ll go back a little. When Nakamura first solved the second problem, he saw that the bands were made of silicon. Silicon was a very important part of conductors. He changed that with phosphorus, another essential element. He had now solved the ‘ impossible’ problem. He created the blue LED. Shiro Nakamura.

‘But how does an LED actually work?’ you might ask. Well, electrons come from a side and then create light with the two bands.

You now know how the blue LED got created.

A Little History of the World is a book that survived Hitler, but its backstory is something for another day. However, we will talk about one of its chapters, not the backstory.

The Starry Night Begins is the 19th chapter of A Little History of the World. It looks back on the Benedictines, Saint Benedict, and the Medieval times, along with the migrations of the Germanic tribes destroying the Roman Empire, having it fall apart, etc.., with the Benedictines finding ancient texts, working on copying them and educating using the texts remaining from the great and distinguished Roman Empire.

The 4th grade has been reading the online version of the book, and they have reached Chapter 20, so we will interview some of them for their opinion on A Little History of the World.

Guillem March says, "First, when you read the title, it doesn't make sense, but when you read the story, it fits well with the title." 

Olivia Blake says, "It was fun to read and very interesting."

Andreas Philippakis says, "It gives a good opinion on the Medieval Times." 

Katie Rouse-Irwin stated, "It was very interesting how it talked about the different people." 

These are all different opinions; however, they all revolve around the book's positive, but when I ask about the negative, I won't get the same answers. And this ideology makes it so it is narrative non-fiction or (the way I call it 1st person view logic).

Narrative nonfiction is the genre that makes it so genuine but still under one's opinion.

And that's, The Starry Night Begins, by: E.B. Gombrich

One of the most tragic events in American history was the 1930s dust bowl. In my state project on Oklahoma I learnt how this tragic event affected Oklahoma’s culture and how Oklahoma recovered from it. The Dust Bowl started in 1930. It was caused by the combination of a drought, and inappropriate farming techniques in the Great Plains led to one of the most serious environmental catastrophes the United States has ever experienced. 

The Dust Bowl

The dust bowl is known as the “the drought of the record.” It was a very tragic dust storm where there was a whole lot of dust due to farmers not following soil trials which led to serious soil erosion, which led to a tragic dust bowl. The great depression was going on while the dust bowl was in play. Economic slopes during the great depression was a factor of the dust bowl too. In the end many families on the great plains were affected. The dust bowl was named by an AP reporter. He named it to symbolize the hardships the nation went through in the 1930s. 

“Okie” Migrants

People in the southwest have been migrating westward since 1910, but this increased immensely when the 1930s Dust bowl began, and many Oklahomans were forced to leave Oklahoma. Many of them headed west to California where there was similar agriculture. 

When they arrived in California they were called “Okies,” a mean term that people in California called Oklahomans because many people found them to be a social and economic threat to their communities. The groups who hired farm workers were afraid they would form unions and demand better wages. Many Californians thought that they were dirty and would commit crimes. 

After the dust bowl many Oklahomans found work in the fighting industry when the war started. John Steinbeck wrote a book about the “okie” migration, which later got turned into a movie. The “okie” migration was a huge part of OKlahoma’s rich history.

Recovering From The Dust Bowl

Many precautions were supposed to be taken so that the southwest would be less available for dry conditions so that a drought like the dust bowl wouldn’t happen again. Most of the precautions were taken in good spirit. The federal aid helped with a lot of this. Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration helped to speed up the recovery. Roosevelt set up programs to help the great plains. 

The devastating dust bowl is one of the most horrendous events in America’s rich history. And the impacts of the Oklahoma dust bowl still run in the roots of the strong state.

The Space Race

Did you know that NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration? NASA was established on July 29th, 1958, to compete with the Soviet Union in the space race sparked by the launch of Sputnik 1. NASA began its operations on October 1st, 1958. 

Project Mercury

Project Mercury was the goal of a human successfully entering Earth's orbit. Alan Shepard became the first American to enter space on May the 5th, 1961, on the Freedom 7. This was the first major breakthrough from NASA. The Soviet Union was slightly ahead, with Yuri Gagarin going to space as the first human in space less than a month before NASA. The final operation of Project Mercury was from Gordon Cooper in May 1963, doing an amazing 22 orbits before returning on the faith 7. 

Moon Landings

Soon, Apollo 11 was developed to take us to the moon, and it was piloted by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michel Collins. Apollo 11 is the most popular and significant breakthrough in NASA history. The Soviet Union gave up its hopes of landing on the moon's surface, and the USA won the space race. It was then that Neil Armstrong said the famous words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

The ISS (International Space Station)

In 1984, President Reagan and the U.S. Congress approved and gave the ISS a budget.

The ISS, also known as the International Space Station, was designed from 1984 to 1993, and construction is, believe it or not, still in progress, with the first part added in 1998 and, most recently, 2021. Fun fact: the ISS was made for space studies. 1993 the space station was revamped, major changes were made, and the Russians were invited to the project. The ISS was made in separate pieces worldwide, like manufacturing Lego pieces for a Lego set! As each "piece" was made, they were sent out with spaceships and rockets and assembled like a Lego set. This was done with 36 space shuttles, 6 Russian Soyuz rockets, advanced robots, and spacewalks.

Mars Rovers

Mars rovers were made to study Mars for life. The first rover to successfully land on Mars is Sojourner. This microwave-oven-sized vehicle revealed that Mars was not just a dry, cold planet but used to be a much wetter place! This means there is a small chance that something existed before our time. Because every living thing needs water. So NASA decided to make two other rovers named Spirit and Opportunity. Together, they landed on opposite sides of the planet's rocky surface for maximum coverage. These Rovers are about the size of golf carts and weigh about 374 pounds. They found a ton of evidence for water on Mars with their different tools, including a panoramic camera (a camera that can take photos 360 degrees around), a microscopic camera, 3 spectrometers (something that measures light), a rock abrasion tool, and a magnetic array.

So far, all the rovers we discussed have died for many different reasons. Sojourner, for example, landed on July 4th, 1997, and died on September 27th, 1997. Spirit landed on January 4th, 2004, and died on May 25th, 2011; it got stuck in some sand and wasted its reserve energy trying to get out. Opportunity landed on January 25th, 2004, and died on June 10th, 2018; a dust storm covered the solar panels and made them incapable of producing energy.  There are still two operational rovers: Curiosity and Perseverance. Curiosity landed on August 6th, 2012, and is still operational! Perseverance landed on February 18th, 2021, and is still operational.

But, you look closely at all of the previous Rovers, except for Curiosity and Perseverance they all ended up with a loss of power because their fancy solar panel technology was too vulnerable and unstable. But Curiosity and Perseverance are still running! This is because NASA learned from its mistakes, and instead of having solar panels, they equipped it with a nuclear generator instead! And this is wonderful because it shows that you can learn from mistakes and make it better the next time! I hope everyone can learn from their mistakes and overcome their problems! 

Who knows, maybe you might succeed and learn from your mistakes. Well, there is only one way to find out!

Saint Peter's Basilica is a magnificent building that serves as the tomb of the apostle Saint Peter. The building was made by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, and Carlo Maderno. The building was made after the Roman Emperor Constantine had his basilica made with an amazing interior and exterior. However, the left side of it was destroyed and rebuilt during the Early Renaissance in France, with the people of Vatican City making a large mockery of it. However, Michelangelo saved Donato Bramante's design and saved the Church from at least a century of mockery from the Romans.

The price to build it during the early Renaissance is estimated to be about $32,000,000,000. It is 447 ft. tall and can fit at least 20,000 people, but its height is equivalent to 81 people. The interior is beautiful and offers one of the best views of Vatican City, but the best can be seen from the dome.

The building was made by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, and Carlo Maderno. The building was made after the Roman Emperor Constantine had his basilica made with an amazing interior and exterior. However, the left side was destroyed and rebuilt during the Early Renaissance in France, with the people of Vatican City making a large mockery of it. However, Michelangelo saved Donato Bramante's design and saved the Church from at least a century of mockery from the Romans.

The price to build it during the early Renaissance is estimated to be about $32,000,000,000. It is 447 ft. tall and can fit at least 20,000 people, but its height is equivalent to 81 people. The interior is beautiful and offers one of the best views of Vatican City, but the best can be seen from the dome.

Ninety popes are currently buried underneath the site, starting with the first pope, the Apostle Saint Peter, buried under the main altar. Here are the other popes buried who were originally buried there [some have since been moved to other sites]:

1. S. PETRUS

2. S. LINUS

3. S. CLETUS

4. S. EVARISTUS

5. S. ALEXANDER

6. S. XYSTUS I

7. S. TELESPHORUS

8. S. HYGINUS

9. S. PIUS I

10. S. ANICETUS

11. S. SOTER

12. S. ELEUTHERIUS

13. S. VICTOR I

14. S. LEO I

15. S. SIMPLICIUS

16. S. GELASIUS

17. S. ANASTASIUS II

18. S. SYMMACHUS

19. S. HORMISDAS

20. S. IOANNES

21. S. FELIX IV

22. BONIFATIUS II

23. IOANNES II

24. S. AGAPITUS

25. VIGILIUS

26. PELAGIUS I

27. IOANNES III

28. BENEDICTUS I

29. PELAGIUS II

30. S. GREGORIUS I

31. SABINIANUS

32. BONIFATIUS III

33. S. BONIFATIUS IV

34. S. DEUSDEDIT

35. BONIFATIUS V

36. HONORIUS

37. SEVERINUS

38. IOANNES IV

39. THEODORUS

40. S. EUGENIUS

41. S. VITALIANUS

42. ADEODATUS II

43. DONUS

44. S. AGATHO

45. S. LEO II

46. S. BENEDICTUS II

47. IOANNES V

48. CONON

49. S. SERGIUS I

50. IOANNES VI

51. IOANNES VII

52. SISINNIUS

53. COSTANTINUS

54. S. GREGORIUS II

55. S. GREGORIUS III

56. S. ZACHARIAS

57. S. STEPHANUS III

58. S. PAULUS I

59. STEPHANUS IV

60. HADRIANUS

61. S. LEO III

62. S. STEPHANUS V

63. S. PASCHALIS I

64. EUGENIUS II

65. VALENTINUS

66. GREGORIUS IV

67. SERGIUS II

68. S. LEO IV

69. BENEDICTUS III

70. S. NICOLAUS I

71. HADRIANUS II

72. IOANNES VIII

73. MARINUS I

74. STEPHANUS VI

75. FORMOSUS

76. BONIFATIUS VI

77. STEPHANUS VII

78. ROMANUS

79. THEODORUS II

80. IOANNES IX

81. BENEDICTUS IV

82. SERGIUS III

83. ANASTASIUS III

84. LANDUS

85. LEO VI

86. STEPHANUS VIII

87. LEO VII

88. STEPHANUS IX

89. MARINUS II

90. BENEDICTUS VI

91. IOANNES XIV

92. IOANNES XV

93. GREGORIUS V

 94. IOANNES XVIII

 95. BENEDICTUS VIII

 96. IOANNES XIX

 97. S. LEO IX

 98. B. URBANUS II

 99. B. EUGENIUS III

100. HADRIANUS IV

101. GREGORIUS IX

102. COELESTINUS IV

103. NICOLAUS III

104. HONORIUS IV

105. BONIFATIUS VIII

106. URBANUS VI

107. BONIFATIUS IX

108. INNOCENTIUS VII

109. EUGENIUS IV

110. NICOLAUS V

111. CALLISTUS III

112. PIUS II

113. PAULUS II

114. XYSTUS IV

115. INNOCENTIUS VIII

116. ALEXANDER VI

117. PIUS III

118. IULIUS II

119. PAULUS III

120. IULIUS III

121. MARCELLUS II

122. GREGORIUS XIII

123. GREGORIUS XIV

124. INNOCENTIUS IX

125. LEO XI

126. URBANUS VIII

127. ALEXANDER VII

128. CLEMENS X

129. INNOCENTIUS XI

130. ALEXANDER VIII

131. INNOCENTIUS XII

132. CLEMENS XI

133. INNOCENTIUS XIII

134. BENEDICTUS XIV

135. CLEMENS XIII

136. PIUS VI

137. PIUS VII

138. LEO XII

139. PIUS VIII

140. GREGORIUS XVI

141. PIUS X

142. BENEDICTUS XV

143. PIUS XI

144. PIUS XII

145. IOANNES XXIII

146. PAULUS VI

147. IOANNES PAULUS I

148. IOANNES PAULUS II

Make sure to check out Pope at the bottom of the People section!

I chose to write about the history of softball because I love softball and because softball season has finally started after a long, cold winter! Seriously, what is one to do without softball when it is the thing you love about spring and summer? I just thought people must know how it all started. 

You may wonder how the baseball-like sport, softball came to be. Over the years, it has become more popular than ever. But who invented softball? When did it all begin? On Thanksgiving Day in 1887, to be exact. Kind of an old sport. Most people may think the sport evolved from baseball, considering the pitching mound, the bases, the bats, the dugouts, and many similar things about baseball and softball. But softball started with a football game between Yale and Harvard. According to Athnet, “When Yale was announced as the winner, a Yale alumnus playfully threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter. The Harvard fan swung at the balled-up glove with a stick, and the rest of the group looked on with interest. George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, jokingly called out, “Play ball!” and the first softball game commenced with the football fans using the boxing glove as a ball and a broom handle in place of a bat.” And that was the first softball game. 

Softball went through many names, such as “kitten ball,” “indoor baseball,” “diamond ball,” “mush ball,” and “pumpkin ball.” In 1926, Walter Hakanson suggested the term “softball” while representing the YMCA at a National Recreation Congress meeting, and by 1930, the term stuck as the official sport’s name.

Like naming softball, the rules also went through a lot of thought and changes. Athnet states, “In 1934, the Joint Rules Committee on Softball collaborated to create standardized rules. Until this point, the game was played with varied rules, player positions, and ball sizes. The original softball the Farragut Boat Club used was 16 inches in circumference. However, Lewis Rober Sr., responsible for organizing softball games for firefighters in Minneapolis, used a 12-inch ball. Rober’s ball won out as the preferred softball size, and professional softball games today are played using a 10–12-inch ball. However, many Chicagoans still believe real softball is played using a 16-inch ball. Games using these 16-inch balls are often referred to as “cabbage ball,” “super slow pitch,” and “mush ball,” and unlike competitive softball, players are not allowed to wear fielding gloves.” Unlike today, people play softball with 16-inch balls, whereas I play with balls 10 or 11 inches. But the older you get, the bigger ball there is. For example, the balls I play with are smaller than the older kids. Professional softball players and college girls have a size 12 ball.

Softball is a well-known sport, and many people play it. Now that you know its history, I hope it makes it more interesting.

   You probably already know what Marian apparitions are. They are supernatural appearances by Mary. Often, they have hidden messages that you can learn from. Mary has appeared in many places, from a dump to a place where you herd sheep. In these three Marian apparitions, I shall tell you all about them.  

Lourdes, France

On February 11, 1858, A 14-year-old shepherd girl named Bernadette Soubirous reported seeing Mary appear to her while she was outside gathering firewood in the countryside. Mary identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception" and told Bernadette of the place of a spring in a grotto, promising miraculous healing from its waters. Since 1862, more than seventy medical cures linked with Lourdes have been said to be "miraculous”' by the Catholic Church, which made its own Medical Bureau in 1883 to review and analyze claims of cures. 

Fatima, Portugal

On 13 May 1917, the shepherd children reported seeing a woman "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal goblet filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun." The woman wore a white mantle edged with gold and held a rosary. She asked them to concentrate on the Holy Trinity and pray "the Rosary every day and to bring peace to the world and an end to the war". While the children had never told anyone about seeing the angel, Jacinta told her family about seeing the lady. Lúcia had earlier said that the three should keep this experience private. Jacinta's not believing mother told neighbors about it as a joke, and within a day, the whole village knew of the children's vision.

Tepeyac, Mexico

On December 9, 1531, Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego, who was a converted Aztec. She asked him to go to the Bishop and request him to build a church for her on the barren hill of Tepeyac, which is now part of Mexico City. Our Lady wanted to show her merciful love to all of her children. The cautious Bishop asked Juan to ask the Lady for a sign. Juan did so, and Our Lady promised to give him the sign.

 Our Lady appeared to Juan again on Tepeyac Hill and told him to pick the Castilian roses which miraculously appeared there and bring them to the Bishop as a sign for him to believe her request. Juan gathered the roses into his tilma and brought them to the Bishop.

When he opened the tilma to show him, to everyone's astonishment, the Image of Mary appeared on it. The Bishop then built the church as Our Lady had requested and ten million native Aztecs were converted and baptized to the one, true faith within the next 10 years. Human sacrifice ended in Mexico forever. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe brought the light of the true faith, defeated the false gods of Mexico, and established an era of peace.