By Feb. 1, 1861, seven states had seceded from the U.S. In chronological order, they were: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Three days later, on February 4, the first six seceded states sent delegates to Montgomery, Alabama, where they convened as the Provisional Confederate Congress. Their objective: form a new country and permanently sever their break from the Union. (The seventh seceded state, Texas, sent its four delegates to the Congress on March 2.) read more...
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An important event in the history of the Civil Rights Movement in America occurred on Feb. 1, 1960, when four African American students from a local college sat down at the segregated lunch counter in the Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, North Carolina. The lunch counter’s stools were for whites only; black customers had to stand and eat. The four students were polite, well-dressed, and stayed quiet, letting their presence speak for them. They were refused service, and ignored. read more...
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On the morning of Jan. 31, 1968, over 80,000 combined Communist and Viet Cong troops surprised the Vietnamese army and its American allies by launching the Tet Offensive during what was supposed to be a cease-fire celebrating the Vietnamese lunar New Year. Around 100 cities and provinces throughout South Vietnam were simultaneously attacked with a coordinated force that surprised their adversaries. read more...
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President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect Jan. 1, 1863, only freed slaves under the control of the Confederate States of America—it did not abolish slavery everywhere. For instance, slavery remained legal in the border states that had remained loyal to the Union. Lincoln was acting with the authority of his war powers, but he knew he did not have the authority to make slavery illegal in the United States. read more...
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Fishermen and sailors on New York’s East River saw a startling sight on Jan. 30, 1862, when the Union ironclad Monitor launched and took its maiden voyage. Nothing like it had ever been seen before. The armored gunboat looked like a round cheese-box on a raft, with only its pilothouse and a revolving turret (housing the ship’s two large cannons) sticking up above the water. read more...
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In today’s political climate everyone is talking about how dysfunctional the federal government has become, and the way that harsh political rhetoric divides Republicans and Democrats and makes bipartisan solutions impossible. While this is undeniably true today, it was equally true of America’s political parties and politicians in the 1830s during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. In fact, some newspapers blamed the attempted assassination of President Jackson in 1835 on the severe criticism he had been receiving. read more...
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Andrew Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, was known for his toughness—both during warfare and in the political arena. As a military man, Jackson served with courage and tenacity in the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Creek War, and the First Seminole War. During the War of 1812 Jackson’s men admiringly called him “Old Hickory” because he was as tough and strong as a piece of that legendary wood. read more...
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Perhaps no state has had a more violent entry into the Union than Kansas. Caught up in the struggle over slavery that would soon explode into the American Civil War, Kansas was the battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forces for seven deadly years before the North and South took up arms against each other, earning Kansas Territory the nickname “Bleeding Kansas.” read more...
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When the space shuttle Challenger blasted off Jan. 28, 1986, carrying Christa McAuliffe on board—who was going to be the first teacher in space—thousands of students in classrooms all across the country watched the lift-off. For 73 exciting seconds the spacecraft roared upward—then without warning it suddenly exploded into a huge fireball, killing all seven crewmembers and leaving students and teachers stunned and shaken. read more...
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Nellie Bly, a daring young woman reporter from Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World newspaper, arrived safely in New York City on Jan. 25, 1890, having set a new record by traveling around the world in 72 days. Her feat is little remembered today, but in 1889-90 her race against another woman, Elizabeth Bisland of Cosmopolitan magazine, was big news. Newspapers covered the race starting the day it began, Nov. 14, 1889, and coverage only increased as they neared the finish line. 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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