On December 4, 1783, General George Washington stood before his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City to bid them farewell. The event marked the end of the American Revolutionary War and symbolized the transition from a nation in conflict to one embarking…
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On the fateful evening of December 4, 1956, an unassuming recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, bore witness to a historic gathering of musicians that would only ever happen once. Sun Studio, under the proprietorship of the visionary Sam Phillips, became the unexpected stage for…
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The United States presidential election of 1800 remains one of the most dramatic and pivotal in the nation’s history. At its core was the Electoral College, the mechanism by which the president and vice president are formally elected. On December 3, the electors cast…
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On December 3, 1989, the world learned that the most protracted, most potentially destructive cold war between the United States and the USSR was on the verge of coming to an end. Held just a month after the tearing down of the Berlin Wall,…
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John Brown’s hanging on December 2, 1859, was a moment of profound historical significance, symbolizing the deep divisions over slavery in pre-Civil War America. The execution occurred in Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia), just weeks after his failed raid on the federal armory…
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On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe established his defining legacy. Delivering a message to Congress, the fifth president of the United States announced a foreign policy that would make America the predominant actor in the Western Hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine was born. At…
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On December 1, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second State of the Union Address, a landmark speech that emphasized the moral and strategic motivations behind the Union’s fight in the American Civil War. Delivered just ten weeks after the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln…
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On December 1, 1824, the presidential election did something that hasn’t happened since–it was turned over the House of Representatives to choose the president after no one achieved a majority in the Electoral College. That year’s race involved four major candidates: John Quincy Adams,…
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On November 30, 1995, Bill Clinton delivered a historic address outside Belfast City Hall, marking a pivotal moment in Northern Ireland’s peace process. Speaking to a massive crowd, Clinton expressed strong support for efforts to end decades of sectarian violence and urged all parties…
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The United States became independent on July 4, 1776, but it did not become free from the British until November 30, 1782. The Treaty of Paris, preliminarily signed on that date and sent to both countries for final approval, marked the official end of…
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