Jerry Waxman
Today in History: September 22
Today in History: September 22: In 1957, Haitian women were allowed to vote for the first time; In 1776 Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British; In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation; In 1975, Sara Jane Moore fired two shots in an attempt to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford; In 1980, the Persian Gulf conflict between Iran and Iraq erupted into a full-scale war; In 1985, rock and country music artists participated in the “Farm Aid,” concert.
Today in History: September 21
Today in History: September 21; In 1792, the abolition of the French monarchy was announced; In 1898, the New York Sun had an editorial with the famous line “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”; President Warren Harding signed the Lodge-Fish Resolution; In 1938, a hurricane struck parts of New York and New England; In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female justice on the Supreme Court. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo crashed into South Carolina
Today in History: September 20
Today in History: September 20; In 1519 Magellan set sail to circumnavigate the globe; In 1967 Queen Elizabeth II christained a ship named after her; In 1962 the governor of Mississippi successfully blocked a black student from enrolling at the University of Mississippi; In 1973 Billie Jean King successfully defeated her male counterpart, Bobby Riggs, in a “Battle Of The Sexes” tennis match; and in 2017 Hurricane Maria made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico and caused massive, massive devastation.
Today in History: September 19
Today in History: September 19: This date is marked by a pattern of world leaders leaving. In 1796, President George Washington’s farewell address was published. In 1881, the 20th president of the United States, James A. Garfield, died. In 1955, President Juan Peron of Argentina was ousted. In 2004 former President Jiang Zemin of China departed from his top military post. In 2022 the world said a final goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II at a state funeral.
Today in History: September 18
Today in History: September 18: The U.S. Capitol figures strongly in our history today. What we see today in Congress is probably not at all what the founding fathers envisioned. Being not only the symbol of Democracy, but also the actual building and location where Democracy happens, the Capitol Building probably never actually rose to its promise of seeking freedom and justice for all. However, it is still there, and there are still Congress men and women who still work there, some to make progress, and many just for political purposes.
Today is a good day to remind ourselves of the original aspirations of founding fathers whose visions for this new country were set in stone.
In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol; In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act; In 1947, the National Security Act went into effect. In 2020, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and lay in state at the Capitol.
Today in History: September 17
Today in History, September 17: Coincidences and ironies are attached to this day in history. Significantly, the Constitution of the U.S. was signed in 1787, and the Camp David Accords were signed in 1978. In 1908 a U.S. Army officer became the first fatality of a military airplane crash, while in 1944 Allied paratroopers landed behind enemy lines in Operation Market Garden. In 2001 there was flag-waving in the stock exchange as it opened for the first time after the 9-11 attacks, while in 2011 the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations began.
Today in History: September 16
Today in History: September 16: In 1893 the Cherokee Strip Land Run occurred; In 1810, Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla started a rebellion marking the beginning of the Mexican War Of Independence. In 1982, the Sabra and Shatila massacre occurred; In 2018, Hurricane Florence caused flooding across the Carolinas; In 1908, General Motors was founded; In 1966, the Metropolitan Opera officially opened its new opera house;
Today in History: September 15
Today in History: September 15: In 1835, Charles Darwin reaches the Galápagos Islands. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted in Nazi Germany, In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States, In 1963, a bomb blast killed four young girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham
Today in History: September 14
Today in History: September 14: President William McKinley died and Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him. Other famous deaths on this day include Isadora Duncan, and Princess Grace of Monaco. On this day in 1847, General Winfield Scott took control of Mexicao City during the Mexican-American War. During the Civil War, in 1861 in a Naval battle, the USS Colorado sank the Confederate schooner Judah.