Jul 01
Who is featured on the first postage stamps?
July 1, 1847 — The first US postage stamps went on sale in New York today. The 5-cent stamp featured Benjamin Franklin; George Washington starred on the 10-cent stamp. Previously, letters were paid for by the receiver unless already prepaid by...
Jul 02
What were the Intolerable Acts?
July 2, 1774 — Following the Boston Tea Party — when Massachusetts colonists tossed 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company into Boston Harbor — today, Britain's House of Lords issued a series of five laws that American Patriots called the...
Jul 03
What is known as the “surpassing horror of the American Revolution”?
July 3, 1778 — Today, the Battle of Wyoming occurred in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Known as the "surpassing horror of the American Revolution," this gruesome battle began on July 1, when about 1,000 regular British troops, Loyalist irregulars, and Indians,...
Jul 04
Which three Revolutionary era presidents died on July 4?
July 4, 1826 — Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died today on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Their views on government diverged over the years, and they ran against each other in the presidential elections of 1796 and 1800. Adams...
Jul 05
Who said: “What, to the American Slave, is your fourth of July?”
July 5, 1852 — Born a slave in 1817, Frederick Douglass and escaped to freedom in 1838, and spent the rest of his life fighting for slave rights. Today, before the President of the United States, he delivered a oration at Rochester's Corinthian Hall....
Jul 06
What is believed to be the first novel written by an African American?
July 6, 1853 — Today, former slave William Wells Brown published Clotel, a story about the daughters and granddaughters of Thomas Jefferson and their relationship to Jefferson's slave, a man named Currer. Born in 1814 in Montgomery County, Kentucky, Brown escaped to the North in 1834. He...
Jul 07
What was the first comic book published in the US?
July 7, 1802 — The first comic book, called The Wasp, is published today. Known for concealing political allegory and rhetoric, this small sheet publication was a biting commentary about President Thomas Jefferson. Indeed, it was so incendiary that it caused a court case...
Jul 08
What American plague was cured today?
July 8, 1800 — The co-founder of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, tested the first smallpox vaccine today. His first subject was his son, Daniel, 5, whom he infected with a sample of cowpox sent by Dr. John Haygarth, England's leading expert on...
Jul 09
Who paid off the Revolutionary War’s $2,024,899 US national debt?
July 9, 1795 — Today, financier James Swan paid off the $2,024,899 US national debt that had been accrued during the American Revolution. During the war, a cash-strapped Continental Congress accepted loans from France. Paying off these and other debts proved to...
Jul 10
What did math genius Carl Friedrich Gauss discover?
July 10, 1796 — Carl Friedrich Gauss discovered today that every positive integer is representable as a sum of at most three triangular numbers. According to Gauss: The triangular number Tn solves the "handshake problem" of counting the number of handshakes if...
Jul 11
Who was killed in an infamous duel today?
July 11, 1804 — Former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and Vice President Aaron Burr engaged in an infamous duel in Weehawken, New Jersey today, which left Hamilton mortally wounded. He died the next day. Though many considered Burr to be...
Jul 12
What controversial idea did Mormon leader Joseph Smith have today?
July 12, 1843 — Mormon leader Joseph Smith (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) announced today, "God allows polygamy." The American religious leader and founder of Mormonism — who wrote the Book of Mormon when he was 24 — attracted tens of thousands of...
Jul 13
What happened in NYC after the draft was issued?
July 13, 1863 — America's first draft was issued today, summoning northerners into the Union Army. Immediately after, the New York Draft Riots occurred. The uproar began as a protest of the new law, and by the end of the first day it...
Jul 14
What was the Vesey Rebellion?
July 14, 1822 — Freed slave Denmark Vesey planned a revolt to occur today that would have involved thousands of slaves from multiple plantations. Known as the Vesey Rebellion, his plan was to gather as many as 3,000 men in and around Charleston, South Carolina, who...
Jul 15
What famous train wreck happened today in 1864?
July 15, 1864 — The Great Shohola train wreck occurred today, killing at least 60 people on the broad gauge Erie Railroad 1-1⁄2 miles west of Shohola, PA. Aboard the 18 car train were 128 Union guards from the Veteran Reserve Corps, and 833 Confederate prisoners of war being taken from Point Lookout,...
Jul 16
What did the Residence Act of 1790 accomplish?
July 16, 1790 — At last, the question of the location of the nation's capital was settled today when the The Residence Act of 1790 was passed. The Federal government had been located in New York City, but that decision was fiercely debated for...
Jul 17
What was the impact of the Militia Act of 1862?
July 17, 1862 — The Militia Act of 1862 was passed today, allowing African Americans to join the Union forces and fight in the Civil War. Although this act was an important step toward freedom and equality of African Americans, the act did...
Jul 18
What was America’s first popular patriotic song — and who penned it?
July 18, 1768 — The Liberty Song, was published today in the Boston Gazette. Written by Founding Father John Dickinson, he coined the phrase, "united we stand, divided we fall." After its initial publication, word of the song spread throughout the colonies. Who was John Dickinson? A solicitor and politician from Philadelphia...
Jul 19
Who organized the first women’s rights convention?
July 19, 1848 — The first US women's rights convention took place in Seneca Falls, NY today. Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (pictured) and Lucretia Mott, it is was advertised as, "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman." There...
Jul 20
What is a Great Meteor procession?
July 20, 1860 — A phenomenon called the Great Meteor Procession occurred today in 1860 when a spectacular string of fireball meteors crossed the Catskill, NY sky. Visible from locations across the US, it was later captured in a painting by American landscape artist Frederic Church...
Jul 21
Who did Wild Bill Hickok duel with today in 1865? And who won?
July 21, 1865 — Old west cowboys Wild Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt engaged in a shootout today, which became the most famous duel in Old West history. The notorious gamblers had been friends, despite the fact that Tutt was a Confederate...
Jul 22
What feat did Alexander Mackenzie accomplish today in history?
July 22, 1793 — Today, Alexander Mackenzie reached the Pacific Ocean after making the first Euro-American transcontinental journey across the United States. Mackenzie's journey preceded Lewis and Clark's journey by 10 years. Unlike Lewis and Clark, Mackenzie's pilgrimage was neither proposed by nor...
Jul 23
Who invented the typewriter?
July 23, 1829 — Today, William Austin Burt patented the first typographer (typewriter). An American legislator, surveyor, craftsman and inventor created a rectangular wooden box that depressed a rotating lever, causing ink to be released onto a sheet of paper. The reason for the...
Jul 24
Who founded Salt Lake City today in 1847?
July 24, 1847 — The first group of Mormon pioneers arrived in Salt Lake Valley, Utah today. Leading the group was the president of the Latter Day Saints Church, Bringham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877). He founded Salt...
Jul 25
Which author made taught us about gold rush bandit Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo?
July 25, 1853 — Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo, also known as the Mexican Robin Hood, was decapitated today. Considered by government officials to be a bandit in California during the Gold Rush, his story became legendary after his death thanks to author John Rollin Ridge,...
Jul 26
What national organization did Benjamin Franklin help establish today?
July 26, 1775 — Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 - April 17, 1790) became the first postmaster general of the United States Post Office today, and held the job until late in 1776 when he was sent to France as a diplomat....
Jul 27
Who unveiled the first electric automobile today?
July 27, 1888 — Philip Pratt unveiled the first electric automobile today — the e-trike. Built for him by Fred M. Kimball of the Fred M. Kimball Company, the vehicle’s 10 lead-acid cells created 20 volts to a 0.5 horsepower DC...
Jul 28
Who captured the first image of a solar eclipse?
July 28, 1851 — A total solar eclipse is first captured today in a daguerreotype photograph by Busch and Berkowski, at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia. It showed a slight but distinct impression of the corona during the total eclipse. An eclipse occurs...
Jul 29
Who was the “Cleopatra of the Secession” — and why was she arrested today?
July 29, 1862 — Confederate spy Belle Boyd was arrested today. Known as the "Cleopatra of the Secession," and "Siren of the Shenandoah," (May 4, 1844 - June 11, 1900), she was one of the Confederacy's most notorious spies. Born in Martinsburg, VA (now West...
Jul 30
Who founded the New York Yacht Club today in 1844?
July 30, 1844 — The New York Yacht Club was started today when John Cox Stevens (September 24, 1785 - June 13, 1857) invited eight friends to his yacht Gimcrack, anchored in New York Harbor. They resolved to form the NYYC and...
Jul 31
Why did Lincoln give the “eye for an eye” order today?
July 31, 1863 — Although the concept of eye-for-an-eye punishment seems medieval now, it was in practice during the Civil War. In fact, black and white POWs were often punished or killed to even a score. Upset by this, President Lincoln issued the historic...
