In the autumn of 1952, a young California senator named Richard Nixon faced a political crisis that might have ended his career before it truly began. Selected just weeks earlier by General Dwight D. Eisenhower as his running mate on the Republican ticket, Nixon…
Read More
On September 23, 1779, during the American Revolution, John Paul Jones achieved one of the most celebrated naval victories in U.S. history while commanding the USS Bonhomme Richard. The battle took place off the coast of Flamborough Head, near Yorkshire, England, where Jones faced…
Read More
On September 22, 1991, the Dead Sea Scrolls were made available to the public for the first time, unleashing a storm of publicity and opening a new chapter in the study of these ancient texts. The decision was made by William A. Moffett, director…
Read More
On September 22, 1869, one of the most notorious figures in American history was born. Typhoid Mary, whose real name was Mary Mallon, was an infamous figure in the history of public health and epidemiology. Wired writes, “Mallon was in her teens when she came…
Read More
On September 22, 1827, a pivotal event occurred in the history of the Mormon Church that would shape its destiny. Joseph Smith, a young farmhand in upstate New York, claimed to have an extraordinary encounter. Smith said that an angel named Moroni appeared to…
Read More
On the gray morning in occupied New York City, a 21-year-old Connecticut schoolteacher turned Continental officer met his end at the hands of the British. Nathan Hale, captured while attempting to gather intelligence behind enemy lines, was hanged as a spy on September 22,…
Read More
During September 1780, one of America’s earliest heroes turned traitor. Benedict Arnold’s treason stands as one of the most infamous acts of betrayal in American history, forever etched in the annals of the American Revolutionary War. Arnold, a prominent military leader in the Continental…
Read More
On September 21, 1792, the French National Convention made a groundbreaking decision that changed the course of French history: they abolished the monarchy. This act came at a crucial point during the French Revolution, a time of political, social, and economic upheaval. The monarchy,…
Read More
Rush-hour traffic on Massachusetts Avenue was just beginning to thicken when a thunderous blast tore through Sheridan Circle in Washington, D.C. on September 21, 1976. A car carrying Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean ambassador and outspoken critic of General Augusto Pinochet’s military regime, erupted…
Read More
On September 20, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the Spice Islands, looking to change the ocean-going world. This epic journey, which began in 1519 and concluded in 1522, marked the first successful…
Read More
