At the urging of President James K. Polk, the U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846, beginning the bloody two-year war of expansion known as the Mexican-American War. Polk was a strong supporter of “Manifest Destiny”—the belief that America had a divine right to expand its territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans—and he was not going to allow Mexico to stand in his way. read more...
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Confederate General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson was a demanding and inspiring leader, full of religious conviction and unshakeable faith in his men, often sucking on lemons to help with his chronic indigestion. He was brave in battle, and brilliant in military strategy. Jackson’s death—he was mistakenly shot by Southern troops at the Battle of Chancellorsville—was a severe setback to the Confederate cause. read more...
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Setting aside a day to honor mothers is a tradition celebrated in many cultures and countries, from ancient times to today. In the United States, Mother’s Day became an official national holiday with the signing of a proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson on May 9, 1914. Some form of a mother’s day, however, had been celebrated in America since shortly after the Civil War, begun as small local gatherings of women whose sons had fought each other in the war. read more...
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On the 71st day of a tense standoff, the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, by traditional members of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation—aided by activists from the American Indian Movement (AIM)—finally came to an end on May 8, 1973. The protest resulted in three fatalities, several persons wounded, and much physical destruction to the tiny hamlet of Wounded Knee. read more...
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Traditional members of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota were fed up in early 1973. Living conditions on the reservation were terrible, and the local government—the tribal council—was dominated by Richard Wilson, a man the traditionalists considered harsh and corrupt. When an attempt to impeach Wilson failed, the traditionalists turned to a more drastic form of action. On Feb. 27, 1973—with the aid of activists from the American Indian Movement (AIM)—more than 200 protesters occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. read more...
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The European nightmare of the horror, violence and destruction of World War II lasted 2,076 days, beginning with Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, and ending when Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Western Allies and Russia on May 7, 1945. Tens of millions of soldiers and civilians were killed, and the evil of the Nazi concentration camps was inflicted upon the world—especially the Jewish people. read more...
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It had been an uneventful trip for the 36 passengers and 61 crewmembers who crossed the North Atlantic in the giant airship Hindenburg, leaving Frankfurt, Germany, on May 3, 1937, and now approaching the coastline of America. While waiting out an afternoon thunderstorm before landing on May 6, Captain Max Pruss steered the ship over Manhattan to give the passengers a spectacular view. At 6:22 p.m. the storm moved away, and the Hindenburg headed toward Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, its final destination. read more...
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Daring train robberies by gangs of desperadoes are an integral part of America’s legendary “Wild West” era, especially the exploits of Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang, as well as Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid and the Wild Bunch. Because of this popular perception, most people today do not realize that the first train robbery in American history did not occur out West. Historians say the first train robbery occurred in Indiana on Oct. 6, 1866, carried out by the Reno Gang. read more...
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In the spring of 1963, African American protesters organized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference nonviolently demonstrated against the racist “Jim Crow” laws that made Birmingham, Alabama, a tense, segregated city. On May 2 police were confounded when organizers had schoolchildren participate in the marches. More than 1,000 schoolchildren, mostly teenagers, skipped school to march in the streets, and over 600 were arrested. read more...
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Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia faced a daunting task in the spring of 1863 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The Union’s huge Army of the Potomac, with its new leader General Joseph Hooker, was about to smash into Lee’s forces to annihilate his army and finally capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. On May 1, 1863, the pivotal Battle of Chancellorsville began. Five days later the fighting was over, and Lee had won what most historians call his most brilliant victory. 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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