Catching the Big Fish, by Meghan

And boy, do I mean big fish. The Whale Shark is the largest living fish species in the world. The largest specimen ever caught was 41.5 feet long, though stories exist of Whale Sharks close to 60 feet long. That is a BIG fish!






Don't worry though, kids; these guys are filter feeders, so no need to fear for your limbs.

December 17, 1843...

On this day in 1843, Charles Dickens' classic story "A Christmas Carol" is published.

Dickens was born in 1812 and attended school in Portsmouth. His father, a clerk in the navy pay office, was thrown into debtors' prison in 1824, and 12-year-old Charles was sent to work in a factory. The miserable treatment of children and the institution of the debtors' jail became topics of several of Dickens' novels.

In his late teens, Dickens became a reporter and started publishing humorous short stories when he was 21. In 1836, a collection of his stories, Sketches by Boz, later known as The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, was published. The same year, he married Catherine Hogarth, with whom he would have nine children. The short sketches in his collection were originally commissioned as captions for humorous drawings by caricature artist Robert Seymour, but Dickens' whimsical stories about the kindly Samuel Pickwick and his fellow club members soon became popular in their own right. Only 400 copies were printed of the first installment, but by the 15th episode 40,000 copies were printed. When the stories were published in book form in 1837, Dickens quickly became the most popular author of the day.

The success of the Pickwick Papers was soon reproduced with Oliver Twist (1838) and Nicholas Nickleby (1839). In 1841, Dickens published two more novels, then spent five months in the United States, where he was welcomed as a literary hero. Dickens never lost momentum as a writer, churning out major novels every year or two, often in serial form. Among his most important works are David Copperfield(1850), Great Expectations (1861), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859).

Beginning in 1850, he published his own weekly circular of fiction, poetry, and essays called Household Words. In 1858, Dickens separated from his wife and began a long affair with a young actress. He gave frequent readings, which became immensely popular. He died in 1870 at the age of 58, with his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, still unfinished.


http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-christmas-carol-is-published

Freshwater Sharks, by Meghan

Though we like to think of sharks as ocean-dwellers, there are some sharks that can survive in freshwater, like the testosterone-fueled Bull Shark. Many experts consider Bull Sharks to be the most dangerous sharks in the world, and they are one of three shark species most likely to attack humans.




Yeah, and these little puppies can live in freshwater. They have been found up to 1,750 miles up the Mississippi River in the USA and 2,500 miles up the Amazon River to hang out in Peru. Wow.