The 4th Of July. This Day In History
On this day, July 4 1776: The Declaration of Independence is adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king. The declaration came 442 days after the first volleys of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts and marked an ideological expansion of the conflict that would eventually encourage France’s intervention on behal...
February 22: The Signing of the Enabling Act of 1889, the Bombing of Nijmegen, and Other Events of the Date
A number of important events have taken place on February 22 in U.S. history. Here is our take on the most interesting and valuable of them. 1889 - The Signing of the Enabling Act of 1889 As America expanded Westward in the late 19th century, new territories were gaining statehood. The Enabling Act of 1889 (25 Stat. 676, chs. 180, 276–284, enacted February 22, 1889) was a statute that permitted the entrance of Montana and Washington into the United States of America, as well as the splitting of the Territory of Dakota into North Dakota and South Dakota. The Territory of...
February 21: The Battle of Valverde, the Founding of NASCAR, and Other Events of the Date
A number of important events have taken place on February 21 in U.S. history. Here is our take on the most interesting and valuable of them. 1862 – American Civil War: Engagements in Confederate Arizona: the Battle of Valverde We’ve covered a number of battles fought in Mississippi, Virginia, and Tennessee, but how about the battles fought in the Wild Wild West? The Battle of Valverde, or the Battle of Valverde Ford, was fought from February 20 to 21, 1862, near the town of Valverde at a ford in Valverde Creek in Confederate Arizona, in what is today the state of New Mex...
February 20: The Battle of Olustee, the Beginning of the “Big Week,” and Other Events of the Date
A number of important events have taken place on February 20 in U.S. history. Here is our take on the most interesting and valuable of them. 1864 – American Civil War: Lower Seaboard Theater: the Battle of Olustee The Battle of Olustee, or the Battle of Ocean Pond was fought in Baker County, Florida on February 20, 1864, during the American Civil War. Interestingly, it was the only major battle fought in Florida during the war. Union General Truman Seymour had landed troops at Jacksonville, aiming chiefly to disrupt the Confederate food supply. Meeting little resistance...
February 19: Executive Order 9066 Is Signed, the Beginning of the Battle of Iwo Jima, and Other Events of the Date
A number of important events have taken place on February 19 in U.S. history. Here is our take on the most interesting and valuable of them. 1884 - Enigma tornado outbreak The 1884 Enigma outbreak is thought to be among the largest and most widespread tornado outbreaks in American history, striking on February 19–20, 1884. As the precise number of tornadoes as well as fatalities incurred during the outbreak are unknown (the estimates rise as high as to 1,200 people dead), the nickname "Enigma outbreak" has come to be associated with the storm. Nonetheless, an inspection...
February 18: First of fourteen shots in the Teapot series is detonated, the Wah Mee massacre, and other events of the date
A number of important events have taken place on February 18 in U.S. history. Here is our take on the most interesting and valuable of them. 1955 – Operation Teapot: the First of fourteen shots in the Teapot series is detonated Operation Teapot was a series of fourteen nuclear test explosions conducted at the Nevada Test Site in the first half of 1955. It was preceded by Operation Castle, and followed by Operation Wigwam. Wigwam was, administratively, a part of Teapot, but it is usually treated as a class of its own. The aims of the operation were to establish military...
February 16-17: Sinking of USS Housatonic, the End of the Battle of Fort Donelson, and Other Events of the Dates
A number of interesting events have taken place on February 16 and 17 in U.S. history. Here is our take on the most interesting and valuable of them. February 16, 1862 – American Civil War: the End of the Battle of Fort Donelson Today marks the anniversary of a very important battle fought during the early stage of the American Civil War, as the Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11 t0 16, 1862, in the Western Theater. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee–Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River, an important avenue for the invasi...
February 15: Anti-Iraq War protests held all over the world, serum run to Nome, and other events of the date
A number of important events have taken place on February 15 in U.S. history. Here is our take on the most interesting and valuable of them. 1925 - Serum Run to Nome Today marks another anniversary of a truly heroic page in the history of Alaska. The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled relay across the U.S. territory of Alaska by 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs 674 miles in five and a half days, saving the small town of Nome and the surrounding communities from an incipient epidemic. Both...
February 14: The Allies Bomb Dresden, Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting, and Other Events of the Date
A number of important events have taken place on February 14 in U.S. history apart from Saint Valentine’s Day. Here is our take on the most interesting and valuable of them. 1779 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kettle Creek The Battle of Kettle Creek was a minor encounter in the back country of Georgia during the American Revolutionary War. It was fought in Wilkes County about 8 miles from present-day Washington, Georgia. A militia force of Patriots decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist militia force that was on its way to British-controlled Augusta. The...