eSchool News As Magna Carta turns 800, free online event celebrates significance

Free Discovery Education event features historians and reenactments

A detail of the Salisbury Magna Carta one of the four original surviving Magna Carta manuscripts that have been brought together by the British Library for the first time, on display at the library during a media preview in London, Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. The event marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, which established the timeless principle that no individual, even a monarch, is above the law. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A 30-minute live streaming event celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta–first signed on June 15, 1215–will bring together historians and other experts to explore the iconic document’s impact on the rule of law. The event is free for schools.

Discovery Education will host the event, desinged for students in second grade and above, and will feature a dramatization of the events leading up to and surrounding the first Magna Carta being sealed, along with an examination of Magna Carta documents, and an exploration of its effect on human rights development in the subsequent centuries. Discovery Education is also encouraging schools to create their own Magna Carta for the 21st century.

Chief Executive and Keeper of The National Archives, Jeff James said, “The National Archives is a window on more than 1000 years of our nation’s history and our collection at Kew is open to everyone, for free. This is a new venture for us and we are delighted to partner with Discovery Education to allow children around the world access to see Magna Carta.”

The free event will take place ^[1] on June 15 at 9:30 a.m. EST. An archived version will also be available online.