V2 Rocket

V2 Rocket :

The A-4, later called the V-2, was a single-stage rocket fueled by alcohol and liquid oxygen. It stood 46.1 feet high and had a thrust of 56,000 pounds. The A-4 had a payload capacity of 2,200 pounds and could reach a velocity of 3,500 miles per hour.  On October 3, 1942 the A-4 was first launched from Peenemunde. Breaking the sound barrier, it reached an altitude of sixty miles. It was the world's first launch of a ballistic missile and the first rocket ever to go into the fringes of space. In 1943 Hitler decided to use the A-4 as a "vengeance weapon," and the group found themselves developing the A-4 to rain explosives on London. Fourteen months after Hitler ordered it into production, the first combat A-4, now called the V-2, was launched toward western Europe on September 7, 1944. The V-2s were constructed at the Mittelwerk site by prisoners from Mittlebrau-Dora. Mittlebrau-Dora was a concentration camp where an estimated 20,000 prisoners died during the war. An estimated 2,754 civilians were killed in London by V-2 attacks with another 6,523 injured. This means there were two people killed per V-2 rocket. The V-1 and V-2 Rockets cost an estimated $3 billion in wartime dollars. About 2100 rockets were built. Highly interested in the weapon, both American and Soviet forces scrambled to capture existing V-2 rockets and parts at the end of the war. In the conflict's final days, von Braun and Dornberger surrendered to American troops and assisted in further testing the missile before coming to the United States.

Sources:  http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=894
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365052459/
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/v2.htm

Radio Hour

The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fights injustice in the American old west. with his Indian friend, Tonot. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture.He first appeared in 1933 in a radio show conceived either by WXZY (Detroit) radio station owner gorge W. Trendal.The Lone Ranger is so named because the character is the last survivor of a group of Texas rangers, rather than because he works alone (as he is usually accompanied by Tonto).

The 1920s has been called the Golden Age of American Sports. It also has been called the Age of the Spectator.The United States had a strong economy for most of that decade.

Advertising Advertising as it is known today finds its roots in the industrial expansion of the 1880s. The mass production and the lowering of prices on consumer goods meant that more items were available to more people than ever before. The construction of the transcontinental railroads provided a national market for a company's goods.

(My section) News In response to requests from website visitors, the HPLHS is pleased to make available genuine articles from 1920s newspapers, transcribed directly from vintage copies, for use by gamers who wish to make their own prop newspaper clippings.

Great Depression Outline

I Intro:
The Great Depression was one of the hardest periods of history. Though the whole world was impacted, America was affected the most. Between extreme poverty and insane unemployment rates, people were having a tough time surviving the hardships of the great depression. 
II Causes - The causes of the great depression were the 1929 Stock Market Crash, bank failures, and drought conditions

A) Over speculation: Before the Great Depression, there were very few regulations on the Stock Market. Because of this, investors were able to buy a ton of stocks with money that they didn't have. When the stock market started to crash, people tried to sell all of their stocks, but it was too late and everything lost its value.

B) Government Policy: The government had bad policies on taxes that dealt with income and imports. In 1929, they increased interest rates from 3.5% to 5%, which some believe caused the Great Depression. The money supply fell by over 30% during the great depression.

C) Unstable Economy: There was an uneven distribution of wealth in America , with some people being extremely rich and some people being extremely poor. This led America into the Great Depression, because the economy was unstable.

1) Uneven prosperity: The time before the Great Depression, was a time of false prosperity. America was overdependent on production, which created a very unbalanced economy. 60% of people were below the poverty line, while the richest 5% of the population account for 33% of Americas wealth.

2) Overproduction: Owners of large companies felt invincible so they decided to produce a more and more goods because they believed that consumers would buy them. Most consumers didn't have enough money to do that though, which led to a massive overproduction of goods because they didn't sell.

3) worker issues / farm issues: Both workers and farms had been very prosperous in the early 20's. Farms were producing lots of food, and there were many jobs that needed to be filled. Once Farms started being less important though, many people lost their jobs and America began to sink into the depression. 

III Effects

A) Poverty: Over 60% of people were below the poverty line before the great depression. Then that number rose even higher during the depression, because no one had any jobs. It was an all around bad situation. 

B) Society: Music played a huge role in society during the depression, and helped keep peoples spirits up. Jazz was especially popular, and it helped people to momentarily forget about their tough life. 

C) World: The world was still recovering from WW1, and trying to repair all of the damage. There had been so many casualties during the war, that many people no longer had complete families with a dad/husband. Because of this, many families lacked a "money earner" and so many people became very poor.

IV Solutions

A) Hoover: 31st president of the US. He creates the public works, which built the Hoover dam. He implemented limited relief programs that gave money directly to those in need.He also bailed out some banks.

1) Volunteerism: This was part of Hoovers plan to raise money during the Great Depression. His goal was to jumpstart the economy, and get things rolling again.

2) Public Works: The Public Works Administration was part of the New Deal, in resonse to the great depression. It did things like build dams and hospitals in hopes of improving the economy.

3) Hawley Smoot: This was a tariff created in June of 1930 that raised tariffs to historically high levels. It was created to help protect farmers from agricultural imports.

4) RFC: Reconstruction Finance Corporation- Agency created by US Government to help banks after the Great Depression.

B) Roosevelt: Franklin Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. He led the US Through the Great Depression, and was generally liked by the people. 

1 new deal) Social Security Act: This act established a system that provided old-age pensions for workers, survivors benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, and aid for dependent mothers and children, the blind and physically disabled.

a) alphabet soup)
example: CCC (Civilian Conservation Corporation)- a work relief program to help people find work. 

example: FHA (Federal Housing Administration)- regulated housing conditions and mortgages.

example: NRA (National Recovery Act)- designed to brings the interests of working-class Americans and large-scale businesses together. 

example: WPA (Works Progress Administration)- This was the largest New Deal Agency. It created many jobs for Americans, by putting them to work on roads, buildings, and other large projects that benefited all of society. 

b) Criticsim:  Conservatives thought that Roosevelt was spending too much money and thought thought he was abusing the governments power by becoming too involved. Liberals thought that Roosevelt was not doing enough to help the economy and that he needed to spend more money.


2) 2nd new deal: During the second new deal, there was stronger emphasis on social reform than the first.

a) Deficit spending-abandoned a balanced budget and borrowed money to pay for things.

b) WPA- Works Progress Administration Gave people jobs constructing highways, buildings, and parks. 

c) Social Security Act provided security for elderly and unemployed Americans.

V) Criticism: Criticism was coming from everywhere as people were having an extremely hard time agreeing with each other.

B) Political Criticism:  Came from both the democrats and the conservatives

A) Conservatives: Believed that too much money was being spent. They didn't want the government to help people out very much either. The conservatives were typically the richer people, who didn't suffer as much during the Great Depression.
     
B) Liberals: Believed that there was not enough money being spent, and the government should do more to help the poorer people in society. 
           
VI Effectiveness: Though the Great Depression was a time of hardships physically and mentally, America gained a strength as a country that had perviously been lacking.

A) Changes in US: The governments role in the country really changed after the great depression, because it became way more involved. New policies changed the US in a good way.

B) Unions: Unions began to stand up for themselves, because they realized that they can make a difference in their country. They engaged in sit down strikes, where workers stopped working but didn't leave the building. This prevented owners from simply bringing in more workers.

C) Culture: The cultural experience in America seemed to grow after the depression, because people realized that they have to work together in order to make things happen. Music and art also came to life as it was more popular; it made people forget about their hardships for awhile.

VII Conclusion:
The Great Depressions legacy will last forever. It was a time of hardships but people learned to work together in order to get through tough times. It's a mistake we all learned from so hopefully this won't happen again anywhere in the near future.