Today in American History 
Events in History
Event of Interest
1837 US President Andrew Jackson and Congress recognize the Republic of Texas
Andrew Jackson
- 1845 Florida becomes 27th state of the Union
Event of Interest
1848 American education reformer Horace Mann joins the US Senate, representing Massachusetts
Horace Mann
Event of Interest
1863 US Congress authorizes track width of 4'8½" for Union Pacific Railroad
Doc Durant
Event of Interest
1863 Abraham Lincoln approves charter for National Academy of Sciences
Abraham Lincoln
- 1863 Congress authorizes a US mint at Carson City, Nevada
- 1863 Federal ironclad ships bombard Fort McAllister, Georgia
- 1863 Idaho Territory forms
- 1865 US Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, & Abandoned Lands established by Abraham Lincoln to help destitute free blacks
- 1869 University of South Carolina opens to all races
Event of Interest
1877 Rutherford B. Hayes takes the oath of office privately as official inauguration day falls on a Sunday
Rutherford B. Hayes
Event of Interest
1887 Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6 year old blind-deaf Helen Keller
Helen Keller
- 1889 US President Harrison announced the government would open the 1.9 million-acre tract of Indian Territory for settlement precisely at noon on April 22
Event of Interest
1899 George Dewey becomes 1st in US to hold the rank of Admiral of the Navy
George Dewey
- 1903 North Carolina becomes 1st state requiring registration of nurses
Event of Interest
1910 Rockefeller Foundation: John D. Rockefeller Jr. announces his retirement from managing his businesses so that he can be devoted full time to being a philanthropist
John D. Rockefeller Jr
- 1911 1st US federal cemetery with Union & Confederate graves opens, Missouri
Woman Suffrage Procession
1913 Woman suffrage procession through Washington, D.C. organized by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns and led by Inez Milholland. Ida B. Wells marched with her Illinois delegation despite blacks being told to march in a separate section.
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Event of Interest
1934 John Dillinger breaks out of jail using a wooden pistol
John Dillinger
Melvin Purvis
- 1938 American Bowling Congress' largest tournament (24,765 competitors)
- 1943 Battle of the Bismarck Sea: Australian and American air forces devastate Japanese navy convoy
- 1952 Puerto Rico approves its 1st self-written constitution
- 1957 Ice Pairs Championship at Colorado Springs won by Wagner & Paul of Canada
- 1957 Men's Figure Skating Champ in Colorado Springs won by David Jenkins of the USA
- 1957 Worlds Ladies' Figure Skating Champ in Colorado Springs won by Carol Heiss (US)
- 1966 Twister hits Jackson Mississippi; 3 minutes after 1st sighting, 57 die
Event of Interest
1972 Sculpted figures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are completed at Stone Mountain Georgia
Stonewall Jackson
Robert E. Lee
Event of Interest
1991 Iraqi generals and US general "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf meet to discuss Gulf War cease fire
Norman Schwarzkopf
Rodney King Riots
1991 Los Angeles police officers severely beat motorist Rodney King, the beating is famously captured on amateur video and later leads to riots when the police officers are acquitted
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- 1991 United Airlines 737 crashes near Colorado Springs, kills 25
Event of Interest
1992 US President George H. W. Bush apologizes for raising taxes after pledging not to
George H. W. Bush
Event of Interest
1998 Bill Gates testifies at Senate Judiciary Committee about Microsoft's dominant position in the software industry
Bill Gates
- 2016 Eleventh Republican presidential candidates debate hosted by Fox, held in Detroit, Michigan
- 2019 Multiple tornadoes tear through Georgia and Alabama killing at least 23
Event of Interest
2020 Super Tuesday: Biggest voting day for Democrats selecting their presidential candidate revives Joe Biden's campaign, he wins nine states, while Bernie Sanders wins four including California
Joe Biden
Bernie Sanders
More American History
Birthdays in History
- 1838 George William Hill, US astronomer (calculated Moon's orbit)
Alexander Graham Bell
1847 Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born British-American inventor (telephone), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1922)
Alexander Graham Bell
- 1873 William Green, president of American Federation of Labor (1924-52)
- 1895 Matthew B Ridgway, US gen (WW II/China/Nicaragua/Korea/NATO)
- 1909 Kenton Kilmer, American writer, born in Morristown, New Jersey (d. 1995)
- 1918 Arthur Kornberg, US biochemist (Nobel 1959)
- 1926 Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu (1982-1993), born in Scranton, Pennsylvania (d. 2003)
- 1946 James C Adamson, Lt Col USA/astronaut (STS 28, STS 43), born in Warsaw, New York
- 1947 Clifton Snider, American poet and writer
- 1949 James S Voss, Cordova Alabama, Major USA/astronaut (STS 44, 53, 69)
- 1958 Marc Silvestri, American comic book artist and publisher (Top Cow Productions)
- 1962 Glen E. Friedman, American photographer and artist
- 1971 Tyler Florence, American chef, Food Network personality & cookbook author, born in Greenville, South Carolina
Deaths in History
Albert Sabin
1993 Albert Sabin [Abram Saperstein], Polish American physician who invented the oral polio vaccine, dies of heart failure at 86
Albert Sabin
- 1995 Howard Hunter, US leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1994-95), dies at 87
- 1996 Meyer Schapiro, Lithuanian-born American art historian, dies at 91
- 1998 Fred W. Friendly, American journalist and broadcast executive, dies at 82
- 2003 Luis Marden, American photojournalist (b. 1913)
- 2005 Max M. Fisher, American philanthropist (b. 1928)
- 2014 William R. Pogue, American astronaut, dies at 84
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Frederick Douglass
George Washington
Martin Luther King Jr.
Thomas Edison