On this day in 1895, the American novel The Red Badge of Courage, written by 24-year-old Stephen Crane, was published in book form. The Civil War tale from a soldier’s perspective first appeared as a syndicated newspaper series. Crane was the youngest of 14 children, born in 1871 and raised in New York and New Jersey. […]
On this day in 1935, John Royce Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas to Clem and Mildred Mathis. The family moved to San Francisco when Johnny was a young boy his father, recognizing his son’s musical potential, bought him a piano for $25 and traded odd jobs for voice lessons. Mathis excelled at sports too—competing […]
On this day in 1988, Stacy Allison of Portland, Oregon, became the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on earth. Allison is now an author and motivational speaker. Jan Magee of Denver, Colorado machine pieced and embroidered and machine and hand quilted this 22” x 29” wall piece, […]
On this day in 1953, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, a photographer for the Washington Times-Herald, at St. Mary’s church in Newport, Rhode Island. Wedding guests numbered over 750 and another 3,000 onlookers waited outside the church. Kennedy was elected U.S. President seven years later, the youngest man to ever […]
On this day in 2001, four coordinated terrorist attacks were carried out in the United States by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people from 93 nations. 2,753 people were killed in the World Trade Center in New York City, 184 people were killed at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and 40 […]
On this day in 1893, First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland, gave birth to their second daughter, Esther, in the White House. The Cleveland child was not the first baby to be born in the White House; Thomas Jefferson’s daughter Martha Randolph gave birth to her son James Madison Randolph […]
On this day in 1781, one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War took place in Eutaw Springs, on the banks of the Santee River in South Carolina. This was the last major battle of the Revolutionary war to take place in the South and casualties included 500 Americans and 700 British. Charlotte Evance […]
On this day in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Beverly Ann White of Pontiac, Michigan made this quilt, titled “View from the Mountain Top” in 1991. White made this quilt to teach students, family, and friends about important heroes in African-American history. The […]
On this day in 1833, Margarethe Meyer Schurz was born in Hamburg, Germany. Schurtz studied education with Freidrich Froebel, the creator of the “kindergarten” concept, then moved to the U.S. and founded the country’s first kindergarten. The program, in Watertown, Wisconsin, lead young children in games, songs and group activities channeling their energy and preparing […]
On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment of the United States Constitution is adapted guaranteeing American women the right to vote. The amendment reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” and “Congress […]