On December 16, 1773, a small group of American colonists (many of them dressed up as Mohawk Indians) sneaked onto three ships in the Boston harbor, and dumped more than 300 cases of English tea overboard as a protest against …[Continue]
Daniel Boone
American trailblazer Daniel Boone (1734 – 1820) explored the Appalachian mountains, the area now known as Kentucky, and opened up a westward trail for thousands of settlers that followed him into what is now called Missouri. Although television portrayed Boone …[Continue]
Christopher Columbus
“In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” And his arrival in the West Indies led to enduring links between Europe and the Americas. In the early years of our nation’s history, Christopher Columbus was raised to hero …[Continue]
Lewis and Clark
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s trail blazing expedition departed from St. Louis 201 years ago, on May 14, 1804. In a span of twenty-eight months, they covered 8,000 miles, journeying to the Pacific Ocean and back again….[Continue]
Harriet Tubman
In 2003, New York Governor George E. Pataki established March 10 as Harriet Tubman Day. Harriet Tubman was born a slave in 1820, but escaped north to freedom in 1849. Instead of enjoying her newfound freedom, however, she returned south …[Continue]
Salem Witchcraft Trials
In 1692, the largest witch hunt in American history gripped the town of Salem, Massachusetts. 150 people were imprisoned, and twenty executed. The witchcraft hysteria started in late February, when several young girls began acting strangely. On March 1, one …[Continue]
Tuskegee Airmen
On July 19, 1941, the U.S. Air Force began a program in Tuskegee, Alabama to train black Americans as military pilots. At the time, the Army was segregated, and only whites were allowed to fly. In the five years that …[Continue]
Nellie Bly
Born May 5, 1864 as Elizabeth Jane Cochran, Nellie Bly was a pioneering female newspaper reporter. She became a celebrity in 1889 at the age of twenty-five when she traveled around the world in just seventy-two days, breaking the fictional …[Continue]
Martin Luther King, Jr.
In November 1983, President Reagan signed legislation creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, making it the third national holiday born in the twentieth century. The first was Veterans Day, created as a “prayer for peace” in 1926. Memorial Day came …[Continue]
Cold War
The Cold War was an era of hostility between the United States (and our democratic allies) and the Soviet Union (and their communist allies) that began after World War II. During the fifties and sixties, the threat of nuclear attack …[Continue]
