Maps in the News

Maps in the News:  Shark Attacks, Amelia Earhart, Havana, the American Revolution, and Fireworks

The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) includes maps, atlases, and other cartographic resources covering a variety of newsworthy issues and historical events.  Maps from the GRMC may be scanned to use as visual aids in educational presentations and may be circulated for two weeks or longer.  The following are examples of places in the news from the GRMC:

Seven shark attacks along the beaches of North Carolina have happened over the last month.  The latest attack occurred on the Outer Banks’ Ocracoke Island by a gray shark.  According to the University of Florida, the Carolinas experience an average of just over six shark attacks per year. 

This shark attack map (above, click to enlarge) was published in 2006 by Sealake Products.  The map includes descriptive and historical notes about shark attacks of the last century along the eastern coast of the United States and in the Gulf of Mexico.  The types of sharks are shown for each incident with a date, and the map includes photographs of the sharks and actual-size examples of shark teeth.

 The last radio contact with Amelia Earhart was made on July 2, 1937, on her flight around the world.  The map Final Flight: Map of Amelia Earhart’s Around-the-World Flight Attempt was published by the GRMC in 2014 and is available for use in research and learning from the Ball State University Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar.

The U.S. is reopening an embassy in Havana, Cuba, for the first time since 1961.  The GRMC includes a collection of maps of Havana and Cuba dating back to the early 20^th century.  This map, Colorprint Mapa General de Cuba, showing the location of Havana was published in 1961.

This map of the Revolutionary War was published by National Geographic in 2012 and is posted in the front windows of the GRMC as the July “Map of the Month.”

Jalopnik offers a map showing the fireworks laws of all 50 states.  Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island ban all consumer fireworks.

For more information about using cartographic resources in research and learning, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.