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The Chunnel: The World’s Longest Underwater Tunnel

Tonight we are going to learn about the longest undersea tunnel in the world. This tunnel actually goes under the ground at the bottom of the ocean. England and France and separated by a large area of water called a “channel.” Before the tunnel people had to take boats to go back and forth between the two countries. A long time ago someone had the idea to dig very deep below the ocean and all the way across to the other side. Because it a tunnel and crosses a channel, it was called the “chunnel.”

The first person to have the idea of digging this tunnel a Frechman named Albert Mathieu. At the time they didn’t have large digging machines, so they would have had to do much of it using shovels and horses and wagons. Later, others were going to try to dig the tunnel, at another time some even started to dig from both sides, but France and England didn’t get along so some were worried it would be used to attack the other. For this reason, they waited to start building the tunnel.

Finally, many years later, both England and France agreed on a plan and began digging from both sides of the land. At that time they had better digging machines, so could work much faster digging into the ground and removing all the dirt. Even though the project was very difficult and took a lot of time, both sides kept working and working. It even cost much, much more than they expected, but they were determined to finish the tunnel under the ocean to connect the two countries. They knew once the tunnel was finished it would make moving back and forth very fast and easy. It would also make both of the countries better friends because they could share more things very quickly. Along with digging the tunnel, they began to build train tracks, so a fast moving train could drive between England and French. Engineers had to be very smart and understand everything about the ground and ocean in order to build it. An engineer is someone who goes to school to learn how to build things.

After six years of digging and building, the chunnel was almost complete. Two workers, Graham Fagg and Phillipe Cozette, were chosen to break through the last wall of dirt that connected the two sizes. Many reporters were there as well, since everyone in the world was watching them finish the tunnel. When Graham and Phillipe finished digging through, everyone cheered and gave hugs and celebrated. They were so excited to have the tunnel finally finished. Sometimes even today Graham and Phillipe call each other to remember what an exciting day it was when they helped finish the tunnel.

Soon afterward, the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth, and the President of France, Francois Mitterand, took trains from both sides and met in the middle to shake hands and congratulate each other on the great achievement.

In the end, digging the chunnel cost 16 billion dollars and even the lives of a few of the workers, but it was an amazing accomplishment. At its lowest point it is 250 feet deep. That is the same as 20 houses stacked on top of each other. It is 23 miles long and every day carries people and food and other things back and forth between France and England.

Like the engineers who built the chunnel, you can learn math and science and other subjects that are in important in school. They had to read and study and finish tests the best they could in order to have the knowledge to build the chunnel. You can also learn to work hard like the many workers who helped dig the tunnel and kept going and going even when it was difficult. Always remember great things take time and patience and practice and work.

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Sir Edmund Hillary: Knight of Mount Everest For Kids

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Welcome to Bedtime History. Tonight we’re going to learn about the tallest mountain the world. Do you know the name of this mountain? It is called Mount Everest and it is 29,000 feet high. If you can imagine, it is the same as 1,000 houses stacked on top of each other.

Tonight we’re also going to learn about the little boy who grew up to be the man who climbed this mountain — this is the story of Sir Edmund Hillary.

Edmund was born in 1919 in the country of New Zealand. He was smaller than other kids his age and shy. Every day he got on a train and took it a long way to school. On the train he liked to read books. His favorite books were about mountains and adventures. He dreamed that one day he would go on his own adventures.

Edmund didn’t always stay small. When he was a teenager he grew very, very tall. By that time he didn’t only dream about adventures, he started making his own adventures by climbing mountains. He loved climbing, especially in cold, snowy places. He had a passion for it. Passion is when you love doing something very much. Edmund practiced and practiced and became very good at climbing. He knew that all great adventurers have to practice and practice if they want to become very good at something. Edmund climbed over 34 mountains. That is a lot of practice!

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world in a country called Tibet. No one had ever climbed to the top. It was in a freezing cold place with fast wind and deep snow that made it very difficult and very dangerous to climb. All of the climbers in the world wanted to be the first person to make it to the top. Edmund wanted with all his heart to be the first one to the top.

When Edmund finally got the chance to try and reach the top of Mount Everest, he had a helper named Tenzing. Edmund and Tenzing had to wear warm clothes and carry heavy backpacks with all their food and other supplies. It was very cold and much of the time they were hungry and tired, but Edmund and Tenzing kept going. They needed each other all along the way. They could not do it alone. This is called teamwork. Teamwork is when people help each other to get something done.

When others turned around and went back down the mountain, Edmund remembered the adventures he read and dreamed about as a boy. Now he was the hero and this was his adventure.

Close to the top of Mount Everest there was a very high wall of ice that no else could climb. But Edmund was creative and strong and figured out a way to wriggle his way up a crack in to the top. The top of Mount Everest was so high that they could barely breath. It took them 20 days and they were only there for a few minutes, but they had reached their goal!

News about Edmund spread all around the world. When Edmund got home he met the Queen of England who made him a knight. In his day a knight was someone who had done something great.

After Mount Everest, Edmund’s adventures weren’t over. He also went to the South Pole, then the North Pole and wrote books about the amazing things he had done. Edmund became famous and made a lot of money from it. But Edmund didn’t keep all the money for himself. He used the money to build schools, hospitals, churches and roads for poor villages. When the newspapers wrote about Edmund and his adventures they said he was a hero, he said he was just a normal person who had a big imagination, had a lot of energy and worked hard.

Like Edmund, you can read books and dream about doing great things. You can also have passion for things you enjoy. You can practice to get better at these things. You can also use teamwork, which is working together to get things done, because you can’t always do everything by yourself. Like Edmund, you can think about others who don’t have all the nice things you have; and do what you can to help them out. And always remember, even mountains can be climbed if we work hard and take them one step at a time.

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