When South Carolina became the first Southern state to secede from the Union, on Dec. 20, 1860, an elderly American had a unique perspective on this harbinger of the Civil War. Ralph Farnham, at 104, was the last Revolutionary War veteran still alive; the last living witness of the heroism and sacrifice that created the Union in the first place. He died six days after South Carolina seceded. read more...
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Maine became the nation’s 23rd state on March 15, 1820, but its entrance into the Union was sullied by an acrimonious debate in Congress over slavery, a fierce disagreement solved by a compromise that pleased few and left many dissatisfied: the Missouri Compromise. In the spring of 1820 the United States had a delicate and precarious balance of 11 free states and 11 slave states. Missouri had applied for statehood as a slave state in early 1819 but anti-slavery forces in the House of Representatives thwarted it. read more...
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It is hard to imagine the horror of what those people went through. There were 116 of them, sleeping inside two trains snowbound at Wellington Depot high in Washington’s Cascade Mountains. The trains, one carrying passengers and the other mail, had been stuck at Wellington for six days. The passengers were no doubt irritated, as the storms of the past nine days had piled up so much snow that there was no going forward—and perhaps somewhat uneasy as well, looking up at the huge snowfields crouching on the steep slopes high above them. read more...
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Although better known as the successful general-in-chief of the Union army during the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant later achieved another notable success when, as president, he signed legislation creating Yellowstone National Park—the world’s first national park—on March 1, 1872. Although known to the Native Americans, throughout the first half of the nineteenth century only a handful of white people, mainly fur trappers, had ever seen the staggering array of plants, animals, geological features and geothermal activity that make up the wonderland of the Yellowstone region. read more...
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NewsInHistory is continually adding more content to our historical newspapers archive—titles new to our collection as well as expanding the date ranges and number of issues for titles already in our archive. This current addition involves 8 newspapers from 4 states and the District of Columbia. A total of 7,502 issues have been added in this release! Here are the details:
California
Evening Tribune (San Diego). 7 issues: 1912 to 1914
San Diego Union (San Diego). 1 issue: 1881 read more...
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What started out as a lark, a delightful romp down the Potomac River on board the Navy’s sparkling new warship, turned into a bloody tragedy on Feb. 28, 1844, when a huge gun exploded on the deck of the U.S.S. Princeton, killing eight people including two Secretaries from President Tyler’s Cabinet. The cannon Peacemaker had successfully been fired twice earlier on the cruise and was supposedly done for the day, but Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer—who became one of the fatalities—insisted the gun be fired a third time to impress the guests, and Captain Robert F. read more...
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On Feb. 20, 1862, Confederate President Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation calling for a “day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer” on February 28. His formal inauguration as president was two days away (he had been serving as the “provisional” Confederate president for a year), but Davis knew this was not a joyous time for celebration in the South. He felt some nationwide soul-searching and somber reflection were required. read more...
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Long-simmering tensions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation exploded into violence on Feb. 27, 1973, when local Lakota Indians, joined by activists from the American Indian Movement (AIM), occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. This historic site had been the scene of a massacre of more than 150 Lakota by U.S. troops in 1890, and was chosen for its symbolic value. This began a tense, 71-day stand-off that did not end until the town was evacuated on May 8, 1973. read more...
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On Feb. 27, 1973, traditional members of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe and activists from the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, a protest designed to draw attention to the deplorable living conditions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the corrupt rule of Richard Wilson, head of the tribal council. The site where U.S. troops massacred more than 150 Lakota in 1890, Wounded Knee was chosen for its symbolic importance. The activists hoped the federal government would not dare repeat a massacre of Indians at the infamous spot. read more...
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One of the clearest signs that Reconstruction was changing the face of America came when Hiram Rhodes Revels was sworn-in as the new senator from Mississippi on Feb. 25, 1870, becoming the first African American member of the U.S. Congress. Although his election received the strong support of Senate Republicans and members of the liberal press, conservative Southern Democrats tried to block Revels by referencing the notorious Dred Scott Decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. read more...
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I understand that when writing a blog, it’s necessary to show a picture and say a few words about yourself, so that people don’t think a nameless, faceless committee or advisory board is running the show. Here I am, a real person. My name is Tony Pettinato, and I live in Deerfield, Mass. I did my undergraduate studies in English at Oberlin College, my graduate work in Journalism at UC Berkeley, and have been a reporter for six newspapers. For the past fourteen years I have worked at NewsBank, six of those as a managing editor for the U.S. Congressional Serial Set project – NewsBank’s acclaimed effort that digitized and indexed twelve million pages of primary source documents – that gratified my lifelong interest in American history. And that led me to editing this history blog!
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