Friday, October 21, 2016

October 20, 1880: Death of Lydia Maria Child

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Most Americans of all ages are familiar with Lydia Maria Child's work even if they have never heard her name. Her 1844 poem, “ Over the ...

October 21: "Old Ironsides" Celebrates Another Birthday

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On 21 October 1797, Boston witnessed the launching of the USS Constitution, which remains " the oldest commissioned warship in the worl...
Thursday, October 20, 2016

October 20, 1803: Ratification of Louisiana Purchase

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The Library of Congress explains : On October 20, 1803, the Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase Treaty by a vote of twenty-four to sev...
Sunday, October 16, 2016

Happy Dictionary Day, 2016

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" Dictionary Day " honors lexicographer Noah Webster, born October 16, 1758, and celebrated for his pioneering work in both docume...

15 October 1817: Death of Revolutionary Tadeusz Kościuszko

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199 years ago, on 15 October 1817, Tadeusz Kościuszko, hero of the American and Polish Revolutions, died in exile in Switzerland. This sub...

15 October 1830: Helen Fiske (Helen Hunt Jackson) born in Amherst

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On October 15, 1830, Helen Fiske was born in Amherst. The friend of Emily Dickinson, who was born two months later (the arrival of both chil...

Rosetta and Maria Mitchell: Pioneering Astronomer from Massachusetts

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The timing of the end of the Rosetta mission --the first spacecraft sent to rendezvous with a comet--was fortuitous. On September 30, after...
Saturday, October 15, 2016

Happy Birthday, National Historic Preservation Act! What should we do for the next 50 years?

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October 15 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) , one of the most significant steps in the protec...
Tuesday, June 28, 2016

28 June 1919: A French Bookseller Commemorates the Signing of the Versailles Treaty

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The Paris Peace Conference, convened after the end of World War I, began on 18 January 1919. Although the deliberations, which ended in 19...
Saturday, June 18, 2016

18 June 1942: Heydrich Assassins Killed in Prague Church

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Following the assassination of the "Reichsprotektor" of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich , the members of the Czechoslovak ...