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Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer and the start of the back to school season.
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Boston’s Latin School is the U.S oldest public school. It opened on April 23, 1635.
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5 people who signed the Declaration of Independence attended Boston’s Latin School: Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Samuel Adams and William Hopper
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Until the late 1800’s only the wealthy got to attend school.
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Did you know that high school didn’t exist until the 1930’s! High school started during the Great Depression. Due to lack of jobs it was decided to keeps teenagers in school and out of the workforce so more adults with families can get a job.
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In the U.S approximately 480,000 school buses bring children back and forth to school each day.
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School buses are yellow because yellow attracts more attention than any other color.
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In 1903 Crayola started making crayons.
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They originally only came in 8 colors: blue, black, brown, green, orange, red, violet and yellow.
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Now Crayola makes 120 different colors!
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In 1962 Crayola changed the color flesh to peach. The change happened to recognize that skin tone comes in a variety of colors.
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By the time a child turns 10 years old it is believed that they have worn down 730 crayons!
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Worldwide more than 14 billion pencils are made every year.
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On average a single pencil can be sharpened 17 times and write 45,000 words!
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Pencils can write in space with zero gravity, under water and upside down.
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It is believed that a single pencil can draw a line 35 miles long.
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Pencils have the ability to write with a mixture made out of clay and graphite.
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The eraser was added to the pencil in 1858.
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Before erasers it was common for people to erase pencil using crumbs from white bread.
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Teachers originally did not want pencils to have erasers because it was believed it would encourage children to make mistakes.
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Pencil may have come from the Latin word penicilius meaning little tail.
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In the 1300’s a pencil was originally a fine paintbrush made of fine animal hair.
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The tradition of giving apples to teachers originates from 16th century Denmark. Parents would pay the teachers with food because teachers didn’t’ earn much money.
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2.4% of children worldwide suffer from Didaskaleinophobia which is the fear of going to school.