Category History
SEVEN SCORE AND 17 YEARS AGO, LINCOLN GAVE AMERICA’S MOST MEMORABLE ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG
November 19, 1863, 157 year ago, just over four months after one of the deadliest, bloodiest, and defining battles of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He spent the night in David Wills’s home in downtown Gettysburg, less than a mile away from the cemetery that would be dedicated the following […]
SPACED OUT OVER DECADES, NOVEMBER 16 EVENTS DEVELOPED, DEFINED U.S. SPACE PROGRAM
Certain days in a month, over time, can become magnets for important events. Take November 16, as an example. It has been a huge day in the history of the United States’ space program, beginning with November 16, 1945, when 88 German scientists captured during the fall of the Nazi Germany arrived in the U.S. bearing the […]
VETERANS DAY IS ITS STAR, BUT NOVEMBER 11 IS A MEMORABLE DAY FOR OTHER EVENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Since 1919, November 11 has held a special place in Americans’ hearts. That year, we celebrated Armistice Day for the first time, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I that came on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Then, in 1954, President Eisenhower renamed it Veterans […]
79 YEARS AGO TODAY – AND SIX WEEKS BEFORE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK – FDR PUT COAST GUARD UNDER NAVY CONTROL
Six weeks before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a not-so-subtle message indicating the United States was ramping up for war. On November 1, 1941 – 79 years ago today – he signed Executive Order 8929, which put the U.S. Coast Guard under the Navy’s control, a moved usually restricted to […]
IN HAUNTINGLY GOOD COMPANY ABOARD THE USS HORNET
ALAMEDA – Two small flashlights, resting several feet apart on the darkened mess deck, suddenly lit up. A third flashlight, at the opposite end of the room, joined in. All by themselves. Then the flashlights went off again, repeating this phenomenon throughout the evening and again, all by themselves. Did they really go on and […]
BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF, 76 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, DECIMATED JAPANESE NAVY IN WORLD WAR II
For four days in October 1944, American and Japanese naval forces slugged it out in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The battle was part of the Allied forces retaking of the Philippine Islands, which the Japanese had captured early in 1942. It represented the largest sea battle in all of World War II, and perhaps […]
FIFTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO TODAY, JFK TELLS AMERICANS OF SOVIET NUCLEAR ARMS IN CUBA
On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy went on national television to tell the American people they were in the gravest possible danger imaginable. The Cold War that commenced in 1947, and persisted throughout the 1950s, had gotten even colder after the Soviets shot down an American U-2 spy plane over the USSR and […]
CALVET’S RESPECT FOR LATINO VETERANS ETCHED IN STONE
Statues, in many cases, honor a person who symbolized leadership, bravery, and who set the example that others follow. The California Mexican-American Veterans Memorial, known as “El Soldado,” is different, though. It represents not an individual, but an entire culture of patriots. Consequently, with Latino Heritage Month coming to its close, the California Department of […]
THE MOTHER OF ALL 3 U.S. COAST GUARD BIRTHDAYS: 231 YEARS AGO TODAY
Did you know that the U.S. Coast Guard celebrates three different birthdays, and that today isn’t one of them? October 2, 1789, however, is the reason all three exist. Here’s the skinny. The Coast Guard considers August 4, 1790, its true date of birth. On that day, Congress approved the construction of 10 ships for […]
GROUNDBREAKING SET FOR NATIVE AMERICAN MEMORIAL PLAZA THAT WILL SHOWCASE “THE GIFT” STATUE AT RIVERSIDE
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration will break ground on the plaza of the American Indians Veterans Memorial on Friday, September 25 at the Riverside National Cemetery. It will be the first major monument honoring U.S. indigenous veterans located at a VA national cemetery. The Memorial will feature a statue named “The […]
