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A journalist returns home after circumnavigating the globe with a special goal.
She met it, *with* one navy blue dress and *without* a chaperone – igniting headlines around the world and sidestepping a global pandemic.
The Story of Nellie Bly
“The American Girl will no longer be misunderstood. She will be recognized as pushing, determined, independent, able to take care of herself alone and single-handed, wherever she may be.”
“The influenza is coming around the world in a good deal faster time than Nellie Bly…”
Nellie completed this adventure shortly before her 26th birthday. Click on our source page for a complete list of what she brought with her on her journey.
Graduation day for the first woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S.
“I do not wish to give [women] a first place, still less a second one – but the most complete freedom, to take their true place whatever it may be.”
While men continue to outnumber women nearly 2:1 in the U.S. medical field, in 2019 more women than men enrolled in medical school for the very first time on record. The new Dir. of the CDC is Dr. Rochelle Walensky - the third woman to hold the post.
General Washington’s choice to cross the Delaware River, Christmas Night 1776, arguably changed the course of America history forever.
“These are the times that try men’ souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph.”
“It’s really almost a miracle event, viewed by the population at the time. It looked as if the war was over…This victory is a huge morale confidence building victory that’s going to allow the war to continue.”
Even the British felt a shift after this battle. Some, like Historian Clay Craighead, point to it as a real turning point in momentum. Listen to Clay tell the story from the grounds of Washington Crossing State Park - It was a perilous night that changed America forever.
Today, in 1823, a newspaper published what some now call the most well-known poem ever written by an American.
But who REALLY wrote it?
“We know not who we are indebted for the following description of that unwearied patron of children – that homely but delightful personification of parental kindness – Santa Claus…but, from whomever it may have come, we give thanks for it.”
“Though legend has it that Santa Claus hails from the North Pole, he was actually a New Yorker…”
The poem’s author solidified the image of Santa and his reindeer for the newly formed United States (& beyond), and has continued to do so for the last *nearly* 200 years.
How did the paper get the poem? Another mystery. The paper wrote on that day: "We hope our little patrons, both lads and lasses, will accept it as proof of our unfeigned good will toward them—as a token of our warmest wish that they may have many a merry Christmas."
More than fifty years before the U.S. Constitution was amended to guarantee women equal voting rights, Wyoming granted women the right to vote on this day in 1869.
December 10 is "Wyoming Day" to honor the first of many achievements toward women's equality in the Equality State. Wyoming, which is also home to the U.S.’s first female governor, elected its first female U.S. senator last month -- Republican Cynthia Lummis.
A 42-year-old black woman in Montgomery, Alabama was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat for a white passenger.
She became known as the
“first lady of civil rights.”
“… At that time, there was legally enforced segregation. There were places black people couldn’t go, and rights we did not have. This was not acceptable to me. A lot of other people didn’t disobey the rules because they didn’t want to get into trouble… I was determined that I let it be known that I did not want to be treated in this manner.”
“To me it was a regular, routine arrest, therefore I didn’t think anything else about it until the next morning after I went to work.”
Rosa Parks wasn’t the first (or last) one to confront segregation laws, but her actions fueled a lasting movement.
Rosa Parks' impact lasted long after the civil rights movement. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, the highest civilian honor in the United States. She died in 2005 at age 92, and became the first (and only) woman to "lie in honor" in the U.S. Capitol.
Pres. Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.
But the famous speech would not have happened without this one man whose name isn’t as well known.
“It will be a source of great gratification to the many widows and orphans that have been made almost friendless by the Great Battle here, to have you here personally.”
David Wills' home is still standing in Gettysburg, PA. You can visit the room where Pres. Lincoln slept the night before he delivered the Gettysburg Address. Re-read the whole speech on our source page.
How a little girl’s “beauty advice” to Abraham Lincoln may have shaped the future (& face) of America.
“If you let your whiskers grow, I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President.”
“Some three months ago, I received a letter from a young lady here; it was a very pretty letter, and she advised me to let my whiskers grow, as it would improve my personal appearance; acting partly upon her suggestion, I have done so; and now, if she is here, I would like to see her.”
Grace wrote the letter in Oct 1860, just weeks before Election Day.
In his response to Grace, Lincoln asked whether he might be made fun of for suddenly growing a beard; he was!
The beard likely didn’t impact his victory, BUT it did affect his appearance as the 16th President and his legacy.
Pres. Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have one thing going for both of them this Election Day — NO facial hair. Researchers say beards are perceived as a sign of masculinity and self-confidence, yet no sitting president has sported facial hair in over a century.
“May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”
The cornerstone of the White House was laid.
“…a quality of toughness without brittle hardness.”
Whoever "wins the White House" this year will follow a tradition of every U.S, president since Pres. John Adams, the first inhabitant, in 1800 - a full 8 years after construction began. Adams wrote the line on the front of our card stack in a letter to his wife Abigail a day after moving in.
Today honors America’s founding document – the world’s longest surviving written government charter.
“It is at all times difficult to draw with precision the line between those rights which must be surrendered, and those which may be preserved;”
THE NEXT AMENDMENT? In 2019 Congress held the first hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment in 36 years. The amendment, passed by Congress in 1972 would have made gender equality a fundamental right, but ultimately, it was not added to the Constitution. See our source page for more.
Why We Never Forget
What to Always Remember
What To Know:
America’s War On Terror
“Jules, this is Brian—listen, I’m on an airplane that’s been hijacked. If things don’t go well, and it’s not looking good, I just want you to know I absolutely love you, I want you to do good, go have good times, same to my parents and everybody, and I just totally love you, and I’ll see you when you get there. Bye, babe. I hope I call you.”
8:46 a.m.: American Flight 11 crashes into WTC’s North Tower
9:03 a.m.: United Flight 175 crashes into WTC’s South Tower
9:37 a.m.: American Flight 77 crashes into Pentagon
10:03 a.m.: United Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville, PA
Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11
Approximately 500 police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics have since died from 9/11 related illnesses in NYC alone.
“The start of these talks marks a historic opportunity for Afghanistan to bring an end to four decades of war and bloodshed… Immense sacrifice and investment by the United States, our partners, and the people of Afghanistan have made this moment of hope possible.”
Wreaths Across America is encouraging Americans to wave a flag for one minute at four significant times on the 19th anniversary of Sept. 11 following a tradition started by 3 American women in Maine. It's an incredible story ~ Learn more on our source page.
Congress officially recognized the namesake of “Uncle Sam.”
Why does Uncle Sam remain popular? Here's one theory: "Uncle Sam is rolling up his sleeves. He's going to go pound on somebody." Does that fit your image of America? Read more on why Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty both compete for the leading role for American symbolism.
