Stanley Elementary, Waltham - February 1

N 42°22'04"

W 71°15'08"

Learn more about Lat/Long (including how to look them up by address)

The EarthView team is very exciting to be back at Stanley Elementary School! Our last visit was almost exactly one year go, on February 3rd. Waltham is commonly known as Watch City, because it was a major part of the watch industry. Waltham Watch Company opened it's company in 1854 as the first company to make watches on an assembly line. The company produced over 35 million watches, clocks and instruments before closing in 1957. 

The city of Waltham stretches along the Charles River, which contains several dams. These dams were once used to power textile mills in the early years of the industrial activity. 

What Happened Today?:

2004: Super Bowl XXXVIII, Reliant Stadium, Houston, New England Patriots beat Carolina Panthers 32-29

1914: New York Giants and Chicago White Sox play an exhibition baseball game in Egypt

1884: First volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published

What's in the News?

The Colosseum is a structure built in Rome, Italy during the first century. It is constructed out of concrete and stone and was once used for various entertainment. The Colosseum is very large and held up to 50,000 people. Throughout the years, the structure has been covered with various works of graffiti art. Experts have recently discovered layers of inscriptions on one section of a wall that was left by visitors thousands of years ago. These inscriptions were found in the upper tier section, where woman, children and slaves once sat in the cheap seats to watch the entertainment. The exact meaning of the inscriptions remain a mystery, but experts continue to research and formulate theories. Symbols such as "Victory" and "Vengeance"have been reportedly found. Many visitors wanted to announce their presence, so names and dates were recorded all around. On this piece of wall, in 1892, J. Milber wanted the world to know that he had traveled there from the city of Strasbourg. 

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. The eagle can be found on numerous United States merchandise, including the official seal and 25 cent quarter. However a new type of bald eagle has been spotted feeding on the Nooksack River near Bellingham, Washington. This bald eagle is different based on his color. It appears to be an albino- like bald eagle. The color of this bald eagle is most likely due to a condition known as "leucism". Leucism is a mutation that prevents melanin, or pigment, from being produced in parts of an animals body. In this particular bald eagle, the mutation has caused the pigment to be absent from some feathers. Bald eagles were once a federal endangered species, however through conservation efforts they have reproduced to a stable population once again. The bald eagle was at a low 16,000 birds in 1999 but has rebounded to at least 26,000 in 2011. Although the bald eagle is no longer considered an endangered species, this particular albino- like bald eagle is a one of a kind!