November 10, 2010

35 Years Ago Today: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

On November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, an American Great Lakes freighter, sank in Lake Superior, about 80 kilometers northwest of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

The freighter, the size of two and a half football fields, was on a run from Superior, Wisconsin, to Detroit, laden with 26,000 tons of iron ore. While traveling on a routine run, the Fitzgerald ran into a November gale. Th ship sank without sending any distress signals. All 29 crew members aboard died; no bodies were recovered. When the wreck was found, it was discovered that the Fitzgerald had broken in two.

The Edmund Fitzgerald is still one of the largest freighters ever to have sunk on the Great Lakes.

In November 1976, Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald reached #2 on the Billboard Pop Chart.



In the Detroit area, there are several events which commemorate the Edmund Fitzgerald.

November 5, 2010

Mango Adds More Languages

Back in September, we told you that Mango Languages, on online language learning program available through the Library, was adding a new program called Mango Complete 2.0. When it was released, they mentioned that they were going to be adding new content to their Complete 2.0 offerings on a regular basis.

This week has seen the first of these new releases. Mango has added 8 new classes to Mango Complete 2.0, including:
  • Farsi Complete 2.0
  • Hebrew Complete 2.0
  • Korean Complete 2.0
  • ESL Korean Complete 2.0
  • ESL Italian Complete 2.0
  • ESL Greek Complete 2.0
  • ESL German Complete 2.0
  • ESL French Complete 2.0
Also, are you curious about how Mango Languages helps you learn a language? If so, check out this video:




Interested in trying out Mango? It's easy! To access Mango Languages, you will need a Troy Public Library card. Go to our website and click eResources on the left under Library Links. Click on Language Learning, then Mango Languages.Try it out and let us know what you think.