On August 21, 1858, in Ottawa, Illinois, two leading figures in American democracy launched a series of debates over a Senate seat, debating what it means to be free, democracy, and the purpose of the United States. The National Parks Service states that the first debate…
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By mid-August 1988, the vast wilderness of Yellowstone National Park was already under siege. Months of drought, coupled with unusually strong winds, had turned the forests of lodgepole pine into tinder. What began earlier that summer as scattered blazes—some ignited by lightning, others sparked…
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On August 20, 1911, one of the most famous paintings in the world went missing from the Louvre Museum in Paris. Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” renowned for its enigmatic smile and exquisite artistry, was stolen in an audacious heist that stunned the art…
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On August 20, 1920, seven men, including one of America’s greatest athletes of all time, Jim Thorpe, held a meeting to organize what may be the most pivotal moment in sports history. Coming together in a local auto dealership in Canton, Ohio, the National…
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The Roman Republic, still reeling from the assassination of Julius Caesar the previous year, faced another constitutional crisis in the summer of 43 BC. Caesar’s designated heir—his great-nephew Gaius Octavius, now calling himself Caesar—was only nineteen years old. Yet by August 19 of that…
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On August 19, 1848, The New York Herald, one of the most influential newspapers of the time, made history by being the first major publication to break the news of the California Gold Rush to the East Coast of the United States. This announcement…
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On August 19, 1812, the USS Constitution earned its nickname: Old Ironsides. Launched in 1797, the wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate, under the command of Captain Isaac Hull, “sailed from Boston on August 2, 1812 to off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. On the afternoon of August 19,…
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The journey to securing women’s right to vote in the United States reached its defining moment on August 18, 1920. On this historic day, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was officially ratified, granting American women the legal right to participate in the…
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The Hardest Day: A Defining Moment in the Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, a pivotal confrontation during World War II, reached its most intense and harrowing moment on August 18, 1940—a day that would later be known as “The Hardest Day.” This…
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On August 18, 1868, one of the most abundant gases in the universe was discovered. Though less common on Earth, the discovery of helium marked a significant milestone in the history of chemistry and physics and has been credited to two scientists who made…
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