Colette Marcoix, age 9, of Huntington Beach, California,for her question:

 When did Krakatoa explode?

The date of this great explosion was August 26 28 in the year 1883. It was long before all but a very few of us were born. The blast that blew up Krakatoa was the loudest bang in all recorded human history, being heard thousands of miles away. After the huge early blast came others were almost as bad. By the end of two days much of the volcanic island of Krakatoa had become a great hole in the sea, 1000 feet deep. A gigantic tidal wave spread  out, destroying villages on other islands. All told, about 36,000 people were killed.

The stupendous eruption happened in the East Indies, between the islands of Java and Sumatra. There had been warnings, many warnings, that the giant volcano was getting ready for an outburst. There had been earthquakes and the ground became hot. In the spring of 1883, smoke and steam had spouted out from the crater of Krakatoa. But the warnings had not been heeded and disaster was the result.