In early April of 1861, the nation’s attention was on the Union garrison in Fort Sumter, situated in Charleston Harbor and surrounded by Confederate forts, militia, and 19 batteries of mortars and cannons. South Carolina had been calling for the surrender of the fort ever since it seceded from the Union in December 1860, and demands for the fort increased after the Confederate States of America formed in early February 1861. No hostile action on either side had been taken yet; everyone seemed to realize that the first shot fired would begin a civil war. read more...
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At 6:01 p.m. the evening of April 4, 1968, the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was gunned down by an assassin while standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Though rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital where doctors opened his chest and massaged his heart in a desperate attempt to save his life, Dr. King was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. He was 39 years old. A stunned nation lost its leading proponent of nonviolence, the civil rights movement lost its most visible leader, and many Americans deeply mourned. read more...
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It took a grueling ten-month siege and tens of thousands of casualties, but the North had cause for wild celebration when the Union army captured the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia, on April 3, 1865. General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had held out for as long as they could, but the overwhelming pressure brought to bear by the massive Union Army of the Potomac, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, was finally too much to withstand. read more...
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On April 3, 1865, after a ten-month siege that caused tens of thousands of casualties, the Union army captured the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia. The stalemate had been long and costly, but Union General Ulysses S. Grant—leader of the massive Army of the Potomac—could afford his losses much more easily than Confederate General Robert E. Lee, whose surrounded and haggard Army of Northern Virginia was decimated by disease, hunger, casualties, and desertion—and had no hopes of receiving reinforcements. read more...
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In April of 1865 the Civil War was finally drawing to a close after four years of devastating fighting. One major, and elusive, prize remained for the Union: the capture of the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. For nearly ten months Richmond and the nearby city of Petersburg had been defended by the South’s main army, the Army of Northern Virginia, led by General Robert E. Lee. The force besieging the Confederate capital was the massive Union Army of the Potomac, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, and it dwarfed the Southern army in every way: men, arms, equipment, and supplies. read more...
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By the spring of 1917, World War I had been raging for nearly three years. In the trenches of Europe and on battlegrounds in Africa and the Middle East, nations were tearing themselves apart and sacrificing millions of their young men. Anxiously pacing on the sidelines of this great conflict and keeping a wary eye on the growing carnage was America, doggedly pursuing a strained policy of neutrality. read more...
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The Battle of Okinawa, an 82-day clash that was the deadliest campaign of WWII’s Pacific Theater, began on April 1, 1945. With nearly 300,000 American and Japanese troops involved, and thousands of American, British and Japanese warships and airplanes, massive firepower was employed during this bloody battle. When it ended on June 22, nearly every Japanese defender—more than 100,000 troops—had been killed, while the Allies suffered over 60,000 casualties. In addition, the local Okinawans suffered anywhere from 40,000 to 150,000 casualties. read more...
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In the spring of 1945 the Japanese empire was crumbling, and Allied commanders were thinking about the upcoming invasion of the Japanese homeland. One key objective was left, however: Okinawa, largest of the Ryukyu Islands, only 340 miles from the homeland. It was heavily defended by more than 100,000 determined and well-fortified Japanese troops, but it was a prize the Allies had to have: control of Okinawa would provide airfields close to Japan, anchorage for Allied warships, and staging areas for the massive number of troops needed for the invasion of Japan. 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 11 newspapers from 6 states and the District of Columbia. A total of 5,542 issues have been added in this release! Here are the details:
California
Evening Tribune (San Diego). 76 issues: 1896 to 1922
District of Columbia read more...
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Some people think August 1969 was the apotheosis of the ’60s counterculture, when the Woodstock Festival was held in New York from Aug. 15-17. Billed as “3 Days of Peace & Music,” as many as 500,000 young people, many long-haired, most doing drugs, and all coming together to be part of a “happening” greater than their individual selves, showed the world that America’s next generation embraced cooperation over competition, peace over war, and togetherness over isolation—all wrapped up in the electronic, sensational music of the times. 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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