Tag: History

February 4 George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, is unanimously elected the first president of the United States by all 69 presidential electors who cast their votes. John Adams of Massachusetts, who received 34 votes, was elected vice president. – 1789. In the

January 27 Soviet forces permanently break the Leningrad siege line to end the almost 900-day German-enforced containment of the city, which cost hundreds of thousands of Russian lives. – 1944. January 28 First U.S. unemployment compensation law enacted, in Wisconsin. – 1932. The space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape

January 21 Approximately 750,000 steelworkers walk out in 30 states, largest strike in U.S. history to that time. – 1946. U.S. president Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War. – 1977. On the first full day of

January 7 America’s first presidential election is held. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors; only white men who own property were allowed to vote. As expected, George Washington won the election and was sworn into office April 30, 1789. – 1789. Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and struck

December 31 Nearly 60,000 unemployed workers rally at a Pittsburgh stadium. – 1931. The United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, to put the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the

December 24 The Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America is signed by British and American representatives at Ghent, Belgium to end the War of 1812. By terms of the treaty, all conquered territory was to be returned, and commissions were planned

December 17 Near Kitty Hawk, N.C., Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight. – 1903. December 18 The British ship

December 10 The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. – 1901. International Human Rights Day, commemorating the signing at the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, in part: “Everyone has the right to

December 3 An explosion at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India leads to the worst industrial accident in history. More than 2,000 persons die and another 200,000 were injured when toxic gas enveloped the city. – 1984. December 4 Heavy smog begins to hover over London, England. It

November 26 Six young women burn to death and 19 more die when they leap from the fourth-story windows of a blazing factory in Newark, N.J.. The floors and stairs were wooden; the only door from which the women could flee was locked. – 1910. Franklin D. Roosevelt. president of

November 19 The Nation’s first automatic toll collection machine is used at the Union Toll Plaza on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway. – 1954. At the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa., during the American Civil War, president Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most memorable speeches in

November 12 Ellis Island in New York City closes after providing the gateway for 12 Million immigrants from 1892 to 1924. From 1924 to 1954 it was mostly used as a detention and deportation center for undocumented immigrants. – 1954. November 13 An immense tidal wave and storm surge, caused

November 5 More than 300 Santee Sioux are found guilty of raping and murdering Anglo settlers and are sentenced to hang. All but 38 were granted a reprieve, and the 38 were hanged simultaneously December 26 in a bizarre mass execution witnessed by a large crowd of approving Minnesotans. –

October 29 Black Tuesday hits Wall Street when investors trade 16,410,030 shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, to wipe out thousands of investors, and stock tickers ran hours behind because the machinery could not handle the tremendous volume of trading.

October 22 In a televised speech of extraordinary gravity, U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces that U.S. spy planes have discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba. These missile sites, under construction, but nearing completion, housed medium-range missiles capable of striking a number of major cities in the United States, including

October 15 President Woodrow Wilson signs the Clayton Antitrust Act, often referred to as “Labor’s Magna Carta,” which established that unions are not conspiracies under the law. It, for the first time freed unions to strike, picket, and boycott employers. In the years that followed, however, numerous state measures and

October 8 Flames spark in the Chicago barn of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary and ignite a two-day blaze that kills between 200 and 300 residents, destroys 17,450 buildings, leaves 100,000 homeless, and causes an estimated $200 Million, equivalent of $3.8 Billion in today’s dollars, in damages. – 1871. A massive

October 1 An act of Congress creates Yosemite National Park. U.S. president Benjamin Harrison paved the way for generations of hikers, campers, and nature lovers, along with countless “Don’t Feed the Bears” signs. – 1890. T.E. Lawrence, a legendary British soldier known as Lawrence of Arabia and instrumental commander in