Oct. 29, 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.

Military Gallery

• Oct. 30, 1942 (78^th anniversary) – British soldiers salvage important papers and equipment from an enemy U-boat off the Egyptian coast during World War II. The recovered documents provided the vital clue required to crack the Enigma code system used by the German military.
• Nov. 1, 1940 (80^th anniversary) – German U-Boat 37mm Deck Gun: The Unterseeboot U-166 is launch during World War II.
• Nov. 1, 1955 (65^th anniversary) – This is the date that the U.S. government considers the start of the Vietnam War. It was on this day that the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) was reorganized into country specific units, and MAAG-Vietnam was established.

STEM Landing

• Nov. 2, 2000 (20^th anniversary) – The first residential crew arrives aboard the International Space Station.

Science, Space and Technology Gallery

• Oct. 30, 1938 (82^nd anniversary) – Vintage Radios: “The War of the Worlds”—Orson Welles’s realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth—is broadcast on the radio.

Freedom Square

• Nov. 4, 1842 (178^th anniversary) – Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd at her sister’s home in Springfield, Illinois.

Energy Gallery

• Nov. 4, 1745 (275 anniversary) – Energy Leyden Jars: German experimenter Ewald G. von Kleist accidentally discovers the Leyden jar. It is the first device capable of storing an electric charge.

Discovery Park of America

• Nov. 1, 2013 (7^th anniversary) – Robert and Jenny Kirkland cut the red ribbon for the grand opening of Discovery Park of America.