History Mnemonics

http://users.frii.com/geomanda/mnemonics/calendar.html
http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/mne/
http://www.eudesign.com/mnems/_mnframe.htm
http://www.powerof2.org/resources/middle_school/social_studies/
 
I sighted Thomas's rights. (1776)
Each word in the sentence stands for a numeral in the date -- 1=I, 7=sighted, etc. This is to remember that 1776 is when the American Declaration of Independence was signed.

I captured south's flags. (1865)

A neighbor battle ended.
These two use the same technique as above, to remember that the American Civil War ended in 1865.

The Pilgrim Fathers 

Remember the year that the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from England to America:

The international "time" denotes the year of the voyage (1620), as if:
" It's twenty past four
- Let's go ashore! "

Sultry Carol Languished Grumpily Near Carl, Always Aware Virginal Men Frequently Take Time.
The Confederate States of America: South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas.

Organizing Items

" LATCH "

Indicating things organised by:

Location (eg. left-to-right, floor-by-floor, toyshop/sweetshop etc)
Alpha-numeric (ie. under A, B, C etc or by numerical sequence)
Time (eg. by year-file, by monthly sequence, chronological order of receipt etc)
Category (eg. fiction/non-fiction, red/green/blue, male/female etc)
Hierarchy (eg. McCartney under B-Beatles, Jagger under S-Stones etc)

Roman Emperors

Here's a mnemonic means of recalling the first five of the emperors of ancient Rome:
" Caesars all, FIVE AT 'C' - Guys' ClaN "
All are Caesars:
..[named after Julius Caesar d.44BC]
...Augustus (27BC-AD14)
....Tiberius (AD14-37)
.....'Caligula' (Gaius) (AD37-41)
.......Claudius (AD41-54)
.........Nero (AD54-68)

The Greek Philosophers
Here's a mnemonic means of recalling the three main Greek philosophers of the past in their correct order of birth and therefore influence. Just imagine all three discussing philosophy together in a health spa (or mineral water spring bath):
" Greek   S P A"
Socrates, b. 469 B.C.
Plato, b. 428 B.C. (41 yrs on)
Aristotle, b. 384 B.C. (45 yrs on)

The Great Fire of London

Here is a useful mnemonic diagram for remembering the exact year-date of the fire that destroyed the old city of London in 1666:

The 6's in the year 1666 look like smoke ising from neighbouring houses on fire. The Great Fire itself started at a bakery in Pudding Lane (now the site of the Monument) and destroyed most of the City of London over 3 days. Its growing effect was described in Samuel Pepys's famous diary.

Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.
A very commonly heard mnemonic for the six wives of Henry VIII.

Selected Mnemonics for Geography

http://users.frii.com/geomanda/mnemonics/calendar.html
http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/mne/
http://www.eudesign.com/mnems/_mnframe.htm

Never Eat Sour Watermelon
To remember the directions on a map, place the first letter of each word in a clockwise circle starting at the 12 o'clock position:

                    N

                 W     E

                    S

NEWS—North, East, West, south

The 4 Oceans (Indian, Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific)

Four oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic

The 7 Continents (NOTE: The 2nd letter in the 1st 3 A words help to remember the A continents): Europe, Antarctica, Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, South America

7 Continents.

Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior : the Great Lakes in North America.

" Sergeant Major Hates Eating ONIONS!"

(Superior - Michigan - Huron - Erie - Ontario)
Lake Superior is the largest in area - remember it as being "superior to the rest...!" To recall the sizes of all of the lakes relative to each other, think of either "SHMEO" or:

" Sam's Horse Must Eat OATS!"

Lake Superior - 82,260 km² - 31,760 mile²
Lake Huron - 59,580 km² - 23,000 mile²
Lake Michigan - 58,020 km² - 22,400 mile²
Lake Erie - 25,710 km² - 9,920 mile²
Lake Ontario - 19,270 km² - 7,440 mile²
If confused between the purposes of the two previous mnemonic sentences, Peter Hobbs suggests you recall that "onions" are strung in a line, while a "horse must eat" for size!
Be slightly wary of the popular mnemonic "HOMES" which can be confusing - its letters do give the first letter of each of the five lakes (ie. H,O,M,E,S), but they are in no particular order.

See Mr. Huron Eating Oranges

The Great Lakes, in order from west to east .

" NAM-MI  YACH-Y! "

Longest river in the world
Nile (Africa) - 4,145 miles
Amazon (S.America) - 4,050 miles
Mississippi-Missouri (USA) - 3,760 miles
Irtysh (Russia) - 3,200 miles
Yangtse (China) - 3,100 miles
Amur (Asia) - 2,900 miles
Congo (Africa) - 2,718 miles
Huang-Ho (or Yellow) (China) - 2,700 miles
After the above 8 came another 4 rivers in "L-M-N" order:
Lena (Russia) - 2,645 miles
Mackenzie (Canada) - 2,635 miles
Mekong (Asia) - 2,600 miles
Niger (Africa) - 2,600 miles
By comparison, Europe's longest river (the Danube) comes only 26th at 1770 miles.
Niagara Falls
Here's a new for remembering the geographical position of Niagara Falls in relation to the two Great Lakes that surround it. Just recall the name of the company that makes "washing" powder:
" L E N O R "
(Left) - Erie - Niagara - Ontario (Right)
"Left" refers to west on a map, and "Right" denotes east. The same mnemonic (LENOR) can also be used to recall that the St.Lawrence river flows eastward from the last of the five Great Lakes to the sea:
Lakes: - Erie - Niagara - Ontario - River (St.Lawrence)

BeeGee's Hen! See 'er pee?

These are to remember the countries of Central America, in geographic order.
Bee (Belize)
Gee (Guatemala)
Hen (Honduras and Nicaragua )
See 'er (C R - Costa Rica)
Pee (Panama)

This gives the order of the streets in downtown Seattle, south to north, two at a time. They are: Jefferson, James, Cherry, Columbia, Marion, Madison, Spring, Seneca, University, Union, Pike and Pine.
The Nine Planets:
My Very Educated Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pickles!
Remember the order of the planets from the sun in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

" Son, JaSUN, EVen MaM! "

To recall the entire order of planet-sizes excluding the various moons and Pluto:
(Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury)
Spring ahead, Fall back
How you adjust your clocks for Daylight and Standard Time in many places.

Days in each month

The number of days in each month has remained unchanged for 2000 years (since 45 B.C. in fact, when Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar). Here's a well-known mnemonic rhyme which has been in existence for over 400 years, to indicate the exact number of days in each different month:
30 days hath September,
  April, June and November,
All the rest have 31,
  Excepting February alone
(And that has 28 days clear,
  With 29 in each leap year).
The number of days in each month can also be found by counting across the knuckles and valleys on the back of each clenched fist (from left to right):

Each "knuckle" month has 31 days, while each "valley" month has only 30 days (excepting of course February).

States: Louisiana, Okalahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico