Today in 1804, the birthday of President Franklin Pierce. He's not well known today, but in his time, people learned about the 14th president through a biography written by the acclaimed novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne.
For Veterans Day, the story of the Comanche Code Talkers, 17 veterans of the second World War who created an unbroken code in their native language that saved lives and helped the US military effort.
Today in 1926, America’s aunt made her debut on the airwaves. That would be Aunt Sammy, who gave cooking tips to millions of listeners in the early days of radio.
Today in 1921, President Warren Harding issued an executive order that would finally protect the United States’ most important documents after decades of wear and tear.
On this day in 1943, an interesting headline in the New York Times: “Sicily Vying With Hawaii To Become 49th U.S. State.”
Today in 1911, a big day for the city of Pittsburgh: after an effort that lasted decades, the city won back the H at the end of its name!
Today in 1785, the US Congress decided that the name of our country’s currency would be the dollar. Getting to that point was kind of a trek.
Back in 1926, Poland wanted to thank the US for its aid during World War I, but instead of sending the usual diplomatic letter, they sent papers all around their country and got one out of every six Polish people to sign.
Today in 1863, West Virginia became a state - though back in the 18th Century, there were several efforts to meld this land with parts of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Maryland and create an entirely different entity called Vandalia or Westsylvania.
There were cold-like illnesses and sore throats long before there were humans to catch colds and to get sore throats. A research project has found another creature that got sniffles: dinosaurs.
