Directions

What was happening the day you were born? Follow the instructions below and do some research to find out! After researching, you will write an essay that is about two pages typed, with 1.5 line spacing. Your essay should include the following information:

1. Three or more events that were happening in the world.
2. Three or more events that were happening in the nation.
3. Three or more events that were happening locally.
4. Price comparisons with today. (Examine advertisements for fashions, recreation, or entertainment.)

Researching Online

Proquest Historical Newspapers Database See the New York Times that was published on your birthday! Perfect for searching world and national events. Directions:

• Open the FireFox or IE browser and navigate to the Proquest database site.
• Enter in the username and password on your direction sheet. You will see a list of databases. Choose the Proquest Historical Newspapers Database.
• Use the What Happened On box in the top right to enter in your birth date.
• Find an article that appears in section A of the newspaper(example: p. A2).
• Click on page map to see an image of the whole page of the paper.
• Browse different pages by clicking previous or next.
• To view a particular article or ad, click on it.

Proquest Platinum Database Use this database to search the Los Angeles Times for articles that were published on your birthday. Following the directions will help you find local information as well as world and national events. Directions:

• Open the FireFox or IE browser and navigate to the Proquest database site.
• Enter in the username and password on your direction sheet. You will see a list of databases. Choose the Proquest Platinum Database, the last one listed.
• Click on the Advanced Search tab.
• In the first box, type Los Angeles Times and choose Publication Title option from the drop down menu. This will limit your search results to articles from the LA Times.
• Type in important key words in the next box and choose Document Text from the drop down menu. Examples include: Santa Monica; Los Angeles; or California. This will look for any articles that contain those terms.
• For Date Range, choose On this date… and enter in your birthday.
• Click the orange Search button.

Suggested Web Sites

These sites let you browse by month, day, and sometimes year to find out what happened on your birthday. Note that most are commercial sites, and they vary in degree of quality.

dMarie.com
Search by month, day and year to find events and pop culture information.
Library of Congress American Memory
Search the archives of This Day in History. Only searches by month and day.
New York Times
The On This Day Archive is searchable by month and day.
HistoryNet
A history magazine publisher that offers Today in History.

Researching in the Library

The two books listed below will be kept in the library on reserve for all students to use. Ask Ms. Lebo or Ms. Wolfe if you'd like to browse them.

20th Century Day By Day: The Ultimate Record of Our Times. New York: DK ADULT, 1999.
Avasthi, Smita. Day by Day: The Nineties (Day By Day). New York: Facts on File, 2004.

Santa Monica Evening Outlook Microfilm: Today, most archived newspapers and magazines have been converted from microfilm to electronic databases. All students should be successful in completing the assignment using Proquest Historical Newspapers and Proquest Platinum. However, if you are interested, you may learn to use the microfilm reader at the Santa Monica Public Library to research the local Santa Monica Evening Outlook which was published from 1875-1998. If you choose to do this, remember to:

• Bring an adult with you. Library staff will instruct both you and the adult on how to use the film and reader.
• Have change to make copies of articles you like.
• Know that you may need to wait.