On July 2, 1839, over 50 captives on a slave ship named La Amistad threw off their chains and seized control of the ship. Led by Joseph Cinqué, the Africans killed the ship’s captain and another crew member, demanding to be returned to Mendiland (now Sierra Leone).…
Read More
ZIP Codes, short for “Zone Improvement Plan” Codes, have been integral to the United States Postal Service since their inception in 1963. Their primary purpose is to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of mail delivery, reflecting a history marked by evolving needs and technological…
Read More
On July 1, 1898, during the heat of a Cuban summer, the 1st New Mexico Cavalry, better known as The Rough Riders, stormed up San Juan Hill, propelling the future president, and his regiment, to legendary status while helping the United States defeat a…
Read More
The Chevrolet Corvette, often called “America’s Sports Car,” began thrilling Americans with a need for speed when it began rolling off the assembly line on June 20, 1953. The original model was a hand-built convertible with a fiberglass body and a 150-horsepower inline-six engine.…
Read More
On June 30, 1882, a presidential assassin met his fate following his shooting of President James Garfield, a wound that eventually killed the 20th president. The National Parks service explains that even by nineteenth-century standards, “Guiteau was obviously mentally ill. He considered himself a…
Read More
The Globe Theatre, an iconic symbol of the English Renaissance and intimately associated with William Shakespeare, experienced a devastating fire on June 29, 1613. This fire not only obliterated a physical landmark of Elizabethan theater but also marked a significant moment in the history…
Read More
On June 29, 1956, President Eisenhower signed a law that led to one of the greatest manmade wonders ever built: The United States Highway System. This act would become the biggest public works project in American history. “By the late 1930s, writes The Department of Transportation,…
Read More
On June 28, 1914, the world changed forever when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was murdered in Sarajevo. Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his assassination by a Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, set off a chain of events that led…
Read More
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain stands as a stark reminder of the brutal and unyielding nature of the American Civil War. Fought from June 27 to July 2, 1864, it was a significant clash between the Union Army commanded by Major General William T.…
Read More
Hungry sailors are not to be trifled with. That’s what happened aboard the Russian battleship the Potemkin on June 27, 1905. Spoiled meat sparked a storm of rebellion that echoed across revolutionary-minded Russia. The US Naval Institute helps contextualize things: “For a century before 1905, Imperial Russia was…
Read More
