The History Channel claims to be "where the past comes alive", and its Web site aims to make the same thing happen on the Internet. Combining practical stuff like program listings with real content, like their History for Kids section, this site is well worth a visit.
The site is broken into several areas. Among them: This Day in History, History Channel Listings, Living History, History for Kids, the History Channel Classroom, and the History Collector.
This Day in History provides a look at historical events for every day of the year. The current day is listed, but a search tool allows you to select a month and day, and then generates that day's events. History Channel listings provide program information, and the History Collector provides information on how to order past programs. You can search for titles by keyword, but not all programs that run on the channel are available.
History for Kids and the History Channel classroom illustrate the real strength of this site: its emphasis on education and history. History for Kids includes children's programming, quizzes, and games. The Great American Landmarks Adventure is one example: kids print out the pictures from the Web page, color them, then mail them back and the pictures are then posted on the site, with due credit given. History Channel classroom materials are designed to accompany specific programs and can be printed and used in the classroom. To facilitate this usage, teachers can request packets of material by filling out an online form or by snail mail. The periods of history covered vary widely. A sample of the programs include: Who Built Stonehenge?, Sitting Bull and the Great Sioux Nation, Robert E. Lee, Pompeii: Buried Alive, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington, Heroes Hispanos, and Cattle Barons. The classroom materials offer a description of the program, vocabulary terms, discussion questions, and research activities.
Living History provides a calendar of, and information about, historical reenactments. Included in the listings are: War of 1812 events, Civil War events, Native American events, and American Revolutionary War events. Laid out in easy-to-read tables, listings run the gamut from luncheons and dances to all out battle reenactments.
This site is full of interesting features with a well laid out design that makes navigation fairly straightforward. In terms of depth of coverage, clearly the true historian would go away feeling less than satisfied. But for the less well-versed individual, and certainly for kids, this is a valuable resource. In a time when there is a great deal of talk about the death of history, the History Channel gives cause for hope. Admittedly it could be argued that re-showing "The Winds of War" is not exactly in-depth and accurate history, credit must be given for a real attempt at providing something more than fluff, both on the tube and on the Web.