On August 2, 1790, the United States of America took its first count of the population. The U.S. Constitution ratified in 1789, mandated that a census be conducted to enumerate the people to apportion seats in the House of Representatives and assess direct taxes…
Read MoreOn August 1, 30 BC, a defining moment in ancient history unfolded as Octavian, the future Augustus Caesar, conquered the city of Alexandria. This conquest marked the culmination of a power struggle that would reshape the Roman Empire and influence the course of Western…
Read MoreThe history of the lunar rover, an extraordinary feat of engineering, began with its debut on the moon on July 31, 1971, during the Apollo 15 mission. The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), also known simply as the lunar rover, was a crucial development for…
Read MoreOn July 31, 1777, a 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, received a commission, without pay, from the Continental Congress making him a major-general in the Continental Army. Lafayette had developed a great interest in the colonial…
Read MoreIn the summer of 1676, Virginia’s tidewater region simmered with discontent. Economic hardship, political grievances, and ongoing frontier conflicts converged to ignite one of the most significant uprisings in colonial American history: Bacon’s Rebellion. The colony of Virginia in the 17th century was a…
Read MoreOn July 29, 1948, the world that had been torn apart joined together again in the spirit of unity through sports in what has been called one of the most important Olympiads ever. Held in London, that year’s Olympics, known as the “Austerity Games,”…
Read MoreOn July 28, 1868, the United States certified the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, a transformative moment in American history that fundamentally redefined the nation’s approach to civil rights and equality. This amendment, which arose during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, sought…
Read MoreOn July 28, 1935, a four-engine plane took a test flight from Boeing Field in south Seattle. When it rolled out of Boeing’s hangar, the company labeled it Model 299, but a newspaperman named Richard Smith dubbed the new bomber due to its many…
Read MoreThe Geneva Convention is a series of international treaties and protocols that establish the standards for humanitarian treatment during war. The first of these conventions was adopted in 1864, and the most recent, the Fourth Geneva Convention, was adopted in 1949. These treaties play…
Read MoreOn July 27, 1921, Dr. Frederick Banting, a Canadian surgeon and Charles Best, a medical student, isolated the hormone insulin for the first time, helping millions across the world fight diabetes. The two men made their breakthrough while performing research at the University of…
Read More