Dec. 3, 2020 – Discovery Park of America is filled with artifacts, replicas, history, science, art and more. Our mission is to inspire children and adults to see beyond, and we do so by sharing educational content online and throughout our museum.

We share weekly updates on anniversaries and significant moments in history, and where you can find items related to these dates through our museum and heritage park.

Natural History Gallery (Mineral Wall)

• Dec. 5, 1848 (172nd anniversary) – United States President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1849 by confirming a gold discovery in California.

Technology Showcase

• Dec. 6, 1877 (143rd anniversary) – Thomas Edison made the first sound recording. He recorded himself reciting “Mary had a Little Lamb.” From this machine evolved the phonographs and record industries of the world.
• Dec. 6, 1923 (97th anniversary) – Calvin Coolidge gave the first presidential address broadcast on radio.

Military Gallery (Reconstruction)

• Dec. 5, 1955 (65th anniversary) – Following the arrest of civil rights activist Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed to direct the boycott of the city’s segregated buses. Martin Luther King, Jr. was elected as the organization’s president.
• Dec. 6, 1865 (155th anniversary) – The 13^th Amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States.
• Dec. 10, 1964 (56th anniversary) – Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in America. He declared that “every penny” of the $54,000 award would be used in the ongoing civil rights struggle.

Military Gallery (World War II)

• Dec. 7, 1941 (79^th anniversary) – The Japanese attacked the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Dec. 8, 1941 (79^th anniversary) – After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States officially entered World War II.