July 1 The largest military conflict in North American history begins when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg, Pa.. The epic battle lasts three days with casualties from both sides totaling approximately 51,000 soldiers. The battle results in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee’s Army of northern
The First Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton continues its acclaimed Date with History series with a virtual program featuring Vietnam combat aviator Hugh L. Mills, Jr., co-author of “Low Level Hell: A Scout Pilot in the Big Red One.” Mills’ presentation (through Zoom) will be Thursday, July 1,
June 24 U.S. Air Force officials release a 231-page report dismissing long-standing claims of an alien spacecraft crash in Roswell, N.M., almost exactly 50 years earlier. – 1997. June 25 Virginia becomes the 10th U.S. state. – 1788. Native American forces, led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, defeat
A late Auroran’s Civil War battlefield pocket diary came home Friday, June 12. Harry Reineke IV, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, presented documents and a diary handwritten by Union Army corporal Frederick L. Thayer. Accepting the items from Reineke was Eric Pry, director of Aurora’s Grand Army
July 17 U.S. president Harry S Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British prime minister Winston Churchill, meet in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam to discuss issues relating to postwar Europe and plans to deal with the ongoing conflict with Japan. The meeting was marked by growing suspicion and tension
June 10 Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm and collects a charge in a Leyden jar when the kite is struck by lightning, to enable him to demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning. He coined a number of terms used today, including battery, conductor, and electrician and invented
Oh, how delightful it would be, to spend this week in Rome and take a picnic lunch to the Villa Borghese grounds. Italian ripe tomatoes, fresh cheeses, out of the oven crusty breads, and desserts, Italian style. To walk up the Spanish Steps first and then proceed to this place
June 3 One-hundred-twenty miles above the earth, Major Edward H. White II opens the hatch of the Gemini 4 and steps out of the capsule, to become the first American astronaut to walk in space. – 1965. June 4 The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to guarantee women the
There’s still plenty of time to visit two special, on-going exhibits at Oswego’s Little White School Museum, one honoring the community’s war dead and the second recognizing the contributions of women inventors. The Museum is at 72 Polk Street (Polk at Jackson), just two blocks from Oswego’s downtown district. “Salute
“Terrible as an army with banners the legions of labourthe builder of ships tramp thro’ the winter eve.” —Richard Williams It was a blustery Belfast, Northern Ireland December morning, 1979, when I had appointments with the workers at the Harland & Wolff shipping yards. My friend and driver, Jim, had
May 20 The U.S. Congress passes the Homestead Act which allows adults over the age of 21, male and female, to claim 160 acres of land from the public domain. Eligible persons had to cultivate the land and improve it by building a barn or house, and live on the
May 13 The U.S. Congress overwhelmingly votes in favor of U.S. president James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico in a dispute over Texas. Under the threat of war, the United States had refrained from annexing Texas after the latter won independence from Mexico in 1836. – 1846.
May 6 The airship Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built and the pride of Nazi Germany, bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, N.J. and kills 36 passengers and crew members. – 1937. Works Projects Administration (WPA) established, provides work opportunities for millions during the Great Depression.
April 22 Adolf Hitler, learning from one of his generals that no German defense was offered to the Russian assault at Eberswalde, admits to all in his underground bunker that the war is lost and that suicide is his only recourse. – 1945. Earth Day, an event to increase public
April 15 The RMS Titanic, billed as unsinkable, sinks into the icy waters of the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage and kills 1,517 persons. – 1912. Jackie Robinson, age 28, becomes the first African-American player in Major League Baseball when he steps on Ebbets Field
The Bartlett House on Oswego’s South Main Street, which may be the oldest house in the Village, will be just one of the architectural treasures described during an architectural walk at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 15, with the Oswegoland Heritage Association and the Oswegoland Park District as hosts.
April 8 Buddhists celebrate the commemoration of the birth of Gautama Buddha, 563 B.C. to 483 B.C., the founder of Buddhism. – 563 B.C.. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approved by the U.S. Congress. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed the WPA during the Great Depression of the 1930s when 25%
In medieval church art, the hare was a popular figure. It was believed by Pliny, Plutarch, and other philosophers and essayists in ancient times the hare was a hermaphrodite. The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary. Hares occurred
April 1 English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools’ Day by playing practical jokes on each other. – 1700. Eleven-day strike by 34,000 New York City transit workers begins, and halts bus and subway service in all five boroughs before strikers return to work with a 17%
The New Year 1890 brought a harsh March Winter to New York City. The hoar frost on the tree limbs and branches made it look like a silver brush had painted over it all. The Irish had arrived to its tenements. There was little fresh air, or water. Cinders and
