In a 5,000-word article, the New York Times (9/7, Sorkin, Subscription Publication) details how the idea for the controversial “Common Core Standards Initiative” originated in 2008 after Bill Gates watched the Teaching Company’s “Big History” course while working out in his private gym. The course, taught by Australian professor David Christian, “wove together... a unifying narrative of life on earth.” In 2011, Gates and Christian collaborated and launched the Big History Project in five high schools. Since that inaugural effort, “Gates and Christian — along with a team of educational consultants, executives and teachers, mostly based in Seattle — have quietly accelerated its growth.” The article notes that, “this fall, the project will be offered free to more than 15,000 students in some 1,200 schools.”