For most people – if you ask what happened this day in history on November 18 – not much comes to mind.  It is not as famous as Veteran’s Day.  But, there are events which occurred on this day – that can spur a flurry of fun science activities – particularly in the area of photography.  Nov. 18, 1928 – was Mickey Mouse’s debut on the big screen as “Steamboat Willie”. In 1929 on this day – Dr. Vladimir K. Zworykin demonstrated the Kinescope – a forerunner of the video tape machine.  And, in 1787, Louis-Jacques Daguerre was born – the namesake for the daguerreotype – an early type of photograph.

So here are some fun hands-on activities to help explore concepts of photography and moving pictures:

* Pinhole Camera – Instructions from Kodak

* Flip Book from Wikihow – also if you do a quick search on flip books – you can find out how to do them online.

* Using lenses and prisms to bend light – here is one with a magnifying glass  – you can

* Fiber optic demonstrations -from the University of Rochester

One other “cool” event for this day in history is the discovery by US Navy Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer – Antartica

Have fun and stay safe with your hands-on activities.