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THE AMERICAN CALENDAR
EACH DATE IS THE ANNIVERSARY
OF A PERSON OR EVENT. IT SIGNIFIES THE DATE OF BIRTH OR IN SOME CASES
THE DATE OF DEATH AS SPECIFIED. |
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April |
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J.P.
Morgan, Wall Street Wizard died today at the Grand Hotel in Rome.
He was 76 years old. His doctors attributed his death to an aggravated
form of nervous prostration. A financial genius, Morgan had built
a family fortune into a gigantic banking empire. His total wealth
was $IOO million. |
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Walter
P. Chrysler, American industrialist who established the Chrysler
Corporation, one of the "Big Three" automobile manufacturers
in the United States. In his early years he became the head of a
locomotive factory. He became vice president of General Motors at
an annual salary of $500,000. He resigned over a policy difference
with William Durant, president of General Motors. Chrysler became
president of his own corporation and acquired Dodge Brothers, Plymouth
and DeSoto to
his line. He died at Great
Neck, NY on August 18, 1940. |
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Washington Irving, American author who was the
first native American to succeed as a professional writer. He is
famous for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip van Winkle. As ambassador
to Spain, he wrote The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus
and 5-volume life of George Washington. He lived as a bachelor squire
in Tarry town, NY on the Hudson River.
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William
Marcy Tweed, American politician who defrauded New York City of
millions of dollars. With the aid of Tammany Hall, the Democratic
machine, Tweed got control of the city government and plundered
the taxpayers out of huge summs of money. His largest scheme involved
the building of a court house that cost $8,000,000. |
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The
Pony Express, a fast mail service by relays of pony riders between
St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California in operation for
more than 16 months. During the life of the Pony Express there were
more than 200 riders associated with it. Eventually it ceased to
exist because of the railroads and telegraph lines. |
Thomas C. Kinkaid, American
naval officer renowned as a commander during crucial World War II
engagements in the Pacific. In 1942 Kinkaid saw action in the battles
of the Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands. As
Admiral of the South Pacific, his fleet was
involved as the U.S. Seventh
Fleet for the invasion of the Philippines under General Douglas
MacArthur. |
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Thaddeus
Stevens, American legislator and a leader of the Radicals in the
Reconstruction period. A Whig and then a Republican who served in
the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and chairman of the
House and Ways Committee in 1861. At odds with President Johnson
over Reconstruction issues, he was unable to get his own rigid schedule
passed in favor of the blacks. He
served as a House prosecutor
during the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. |
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Colin
L. Powell, American military officer and chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff. He fought in the Vietnam War earning the Bronze Star and
the Purple Heart. He was the Pentagon's chief operating officer
and commander of American forces in the Persian Gulf War
called operation Desert
Storm. |
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The
Battle of Shiloh, one of the most bitterly contested battles of
the Civil War fought in southern Tennessee about 100 miles southwest
of Nashville. The second great battle of the war was a tremendous
shock to the people of the North and the South. The nation suddenly
realized that this was to be a long and bloody conflict. |
American escape artist
and magician who was one of the greatest showmen of all time. Harry
Houdini in 1899 developed a challenge act escaping from handcuffs,
prison cells,
straitjackets and boxes.
He also escaped from a "water torture cell " and "walking
through a wall." |
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Walter
Winchell, American journalist and gossip columnist. In 1929 he joined
the New York Daily Mirror and immediately his column became syndicated.
In 1932 he started a very successful radio broadcast. Winchell acquired
undisputed influence as an arbiter of celebrity in politics and
crime as well as entertainment. He probed into the private affairs
of the famous which had an
enormous impact upon contemporary
journalism. |
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Henry
Louis Aaron, American baseball player who hit his 715th home run
to eclipse Babe Ruth's lifetime record of 714 major league record.
It made Henry Aaron the greatest slugger in baseball history. The
40-year outfielder of the Atlanta Braves hit a powerful home run
off pitcher Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was inducted
into the Baseball
Hall of Fame on August
1, 1982. |
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W.C. Fields, American stage, film and radio comedian,
noted for his cantankerous and crusty wit. He was born Claude William
Dunkenfield in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fields improvised much
of his material. His irascibility, his dislike for and fear of children,
his duping of little old ladies, socially prominent persons and
pompous officials made him one of the most popular comedians of
his time. He loved his alcoholic drinks.
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Paul
Robeson, U.S. black singer and actor whose rich voice is associated
with his repertory of spirituals. He was the star of New York productions,
Emperor Jones in 1924 and Othello in 1943 which established the
longest Shakespearean run in the United States. |
Bataan
Peninsula was the scene of bitter fighting between American Filipino
forces under General Douglas MacArthur (later under General Jonathan
M. Wainwright) and the invading Japanese in World War II. Bataan's
defenders surrendered. About 37,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers
were captured on Bataan. Thousands died during a 70-mile death
march to a
concentration camp.
Bataan was retaken by forces under General MacArthur in February,
1945.
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Matthew C. Perry, American naval officer who
opened Japan to diplomatic and commercial relations with the United
States. on July 8, 1853, Perry stormed boldly into Tokyo Bay. On
February 15, 1854, Perry returned with seven warships. The Americans
brought many gifts and on March 31, 1854, they signed a treaty favorable
to the United States.
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Lew
Wallace, American lawyer, soldier, author and diplomat who rose
from colonel to major general in the Union Army in the Civil War.
He fought at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Monocacy and prevented the capture
of Washington by General Early's Confederate Army. In 1880 he wrote
Ben Hur; A Tale of the Christ, one of the best sellers of all time
translated into many languages. |
Frances
Perkins, American social reformer and public official who was the
first woman to serve in the Cabinet of a U.S. President. She served
in the administrations of Governor Alfred E. Smith and Franklin
D. Roosevelt in New York politics. President-elect Roosevelt chose
Perkins as his Secretary
of Labor in 1932 and until his death in 1945. |
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Edward Everett, American orator, educator and
public official. He was a brilliant public speaker, a member of
Congress, governor of Massachusetts, minister to Britain, president
of Harvard College and U.S. Secretary of State. He violently opposed
secession of the southern states and strongly supported President
Lincoln's programs.
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Charles
Evans Hughes, recognized as the greatest Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court since John Marshall. He opposed president Franklin D. Roosevelt's
New Deal Program in many respects as unconstitutional. He was instrumental
in foreign diplomatic negotiations to maintain peace throughout
the world. |
Dean
Gooderham Acheson, American diplomat who was U.S. Secretary of State
under President Truman. During the Cold War years of 1949 to 1953,
he played a dominant role in the fight against Communism. Truman
relied heavily on Acheson for policy formulation opposed to Soviet
challenges. He strongly
supported NATO in western Europe to contain the spread of Communism. |
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Henry Clay, astute politician, served a long
time as Kentucky legislator, a congressman and Speaker of the House,
as Secretary of State and several times as senator. He was a contender
for the presidency four times but never won an election. Clay was
a great orator and remained in the political battles of the Whig
Party. From the War of 1812 to the Compromise of 1850, Clay was
involved in one crisis after another. His leadership gave him high
rank among American statesmen.
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President
Franklin D. Roosevelt died on the eve of victory. He had been
in Warm Springs, Georgia, resting from the rigors of trying to
bring an end to the war. His death came at a time of
high triumph for the
armies and fleets under his command were at the gates Berlin and
the shores of Japan.
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Thomas
Jefferson, 3rd president of the United States. A scholarly lawyer,
he led vigorous attacks against British colonial policy, served
as a member of the Continental Congress and drafted the Declaration
of Independence. He engaged in many noteworthy activities: the Northwest
ordinance of 1787, opposed Alexander Hamilton's financial policy,
pushed through the Louisiana Purchase and organized the Lewis and
Clark expedition. |
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Frank
W. Woolworth, American merchant who started the five-and-ten cent
stores throughout the nation. He began a partnership with W. H.
Moore in Utica, N.Y. and the scheme became an immediate success.
From then on Woolworth began launching other stores in other cities.
In 1919 the company was operating more than 1,000 stores in the
United States. He built the famous Woolworth Building in New York
City, at one time known as the world's tallest building. |
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Harold
Stassen, American political leader who made several attempts to
win the presidency. In 1948 he made a serious effort to win the
nomination of the Republican Party but lost to Tom Dewey. He also
failed in 1952, 1964 and 1968 but without any chance of success.
He was defeated for the governor of Pennsylvania and mayor of Philadelphia. |
Madalyn O'Hair, American
atheist who opposed prayer and Bible reading in public schools which
was confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. She wrote many books which
include, Why I Am An Atheist;
An Atheist Speaks; and Atheism in the United States. |
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The
sinking of the White Star passenger liner the Titanic when it collided
with an iceberg
off the banks of Newfoundland.
It was the most terrible shipwreck in history with the loss of 1500
lives. The cause was poor seamanship on the part of the crew. |
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President
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by the actor John Wilkes Booth
while attending a performance at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
He died at 7:22 the following morning. His body was taken to Springfield,
IL. |
The Sacco-Vanzetti Case,
the holdup murders committed by Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti
who robbed and killed the paymaster and guard of the Slater and
Morrill Shoe Factory in Boston of $15,776. The bitter trial of seven
years was biased and prejudicial caused a sensation throughout the
nation. Both defendants were found guilty and executed
on August 23, 1927. |
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Wilbur
Wright and orville Wright (August 19, 1871) were American inventors
who seriously developed a plane for air flight. Their experiments
were carried out on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
When they built their first power machine equipped with a motor
of their own make, they felt sure that it would fly. The airplane
has changed the world forever. |
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar whose
given name was Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor. He was born in New York
City and grew up in Harlem. An American basketball player at 7 ft
2 in who scored 38,387 points and blocked 3,189 shots. He played
20 years in the NBA as a professional. He retired following the
1989 season. on converting to Islam in 1968, he changed his name
in 1971. He
perfected the "sky
hook" using his long arms and finesse to swoop in over hapless
defenders. |
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John
Pierpont Morgan, American financier, who created a vast financial
and industrial empire without parallel in American history. By the
start of the 20th century, he stood at the pinnacle of the financial
world and his name became a symbol of Wall Street hegemony over
the nation's economic life in that era. |
The
Bay of Pigs, 97 miles southeast of Havana, Cuba, the scene of an
armed invasion by 1,300 Cuban refugees trained in Central America
under the direction of the United States Central Intelligence Agency
and transported in American merchant vessels escorted by U.S. destroyers.
The attempt was a complete failure. Troops under their leader, Fidel
Castro, the Cuban Communists prevailed
and when the fighting
ended, 90 of the invaders had been killed and the rest were taken
prisoners. It was a black eye for the Kennedy administration. |
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Paul Revere's famous ride
at night to warn the Massachusetts farmers of the arrival of British
troops at the start of the Revolutionary War. The famous ride was
described by Henry Wadsworth Long fellow that placed him among the
immortals of the American national tradition. It was the signal
for the battles of Lexington and Concord. |
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Clarence
S. Darrow, American lawyer who was perhaps best known for his masterful,
though unsuccessful defense in the Scopes Evolution Trial. Moving
to Chicago from ohio in 1887, he became associated with the judge
and governor John Peter Altgeld and others who were seeking amnesty
for the defendants in the Haymarket Square Riot. He defended many
criminals from the electric chair notably Richard Loeb and Nathan
Leopold in the sensational Bobby Franks murder case in Chicago.
Darrow died in Chicago on March 13, 1938. |
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Leopold
Stokowski, American conductor who was responsible for introducing
many modern compositions to American audiences. He also brought
popular classics to millions. He was associate conductor with Arturo
Toscanini of the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He also conducted for the
Hollywood Bowl Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. |
The San Francisco Earthquake
and Fire which took 500 lives and destroyed 3,000 acres in the heart
of the city. Tens of thousands were made homeless. By 1915 all
traces of the disaster
had disappeared. |
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The
Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought near Boston by the
British troops under Col. Francis Smith and 700 troops. The British
discovered and destroyed patriot supplies. The heaviest fighting
took place at the North Bridge spanning the Concord River. This
brief action aroused thousands of patriots who gathered on both
sides of the British route of withdrawal.
The patriots pursued the
British to Boston and surrounded the city. |
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Mark
Twain mourned in America. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, America's eminent
author and humorist is dead at 74. He will always be remembered
with Hannibal, Missouri, his actual and fictional home. He took
his pen name, Mark Twain, meaning two fathoms deep,
from a shipman's common
cry. He was making a good living as a river pilot. |
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The
Battle of San Jacinto which decided the independence of Texas from
Mexico. It was fought on the banks of the San Jacinto River near
the present Houston, Texas. It was a complete victory for the Texans
who were led by General Sam Houston over the Mexican forces of
General Antonio Lopez
de Santa Anna. |
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J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist who
led the growth of American theoretical physics from provincialism
in the 1920s to world parity by the end of the 1930s and directed
the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. He was chairman
of the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission
from 1946 to 1952.
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Yehudi Menuhin, American
violinist who was a child prodigy and gave his first public concert
at the age of seven. In 1927 he scored a triumph at Carnegie Hall
and for the next eight years he toured the United States and Europe
with continued success. A popular recording
artist, he revived many
forgotten compositions in the violin repertoire. |
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James Buchanan, 15th president of the United
States who took office at a sectional time over slavery, a period
of hysteria prior to the Civil War. His many domestic and foreign
programs fell victim to the rising slavery controversy. Despite
the secession movement, he succeeded in preventing hostilities between
the North and South and he turned over to President Lincoln a nation
at peace with eight slave states still in the Union. He died on
June 1, 1868.
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Stephen
A. Douglas, American political leader, adopted the doctrine of popular
sovereignty and drafted the bills giving territorial government
to New Mexico and Utah. He also drafted the Kansas-Nebraska bill
in 1854. He participated in the Lincoln-Douglas debates defeating
Lincoln in the Illinois senatorial election but losing to him in
the 1860 presidential election. He died of typhoid fever in Chicago
on June 3, 1861. |
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Sanford
Dole, American political leader and judge, the son of a New England
missionary. Appointed to Hawaii's Supreme Court, he later resigned
in 1893 to join the revolution that deposed Queen Liliuokalani.
Dole became the first president of the new republic of Hawaii in
1894. He worked for annexation by the United States and became the
first territorial governor. He died in Honolulu on June 9, 1926. |
Shirley Temple, American
film actress and political figure who as a child star was one of
motion pictures' greatest money-makers and an international celebrity.
Her curls, dimples and vivacious personality won her many roles
in a series of enormously successful films in 1934-1938. She served
in various capacities in her political life such as U.S. ambassador
to Ghana and
delegate to the U.N. General
Assembly. |
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The
Hubble Space Telescope, a 12.8 ton observatory placed in orbit 381
miles above the earth in the space shuttle Discovery. At a cost
of $1.5 billion, the Hubble Space Telescope was the most expensive
instrument ever constructed for astronomical research. HST has taken
many pictures of unsurpassed clarity and has made important measurements
of the chemical
composition of distant
stars. |
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Edward
R. Murrow, American radio broadcaster and television producer, who
became the director of the U.S. Information Agency. As a CBS correspondent
in World War II, Murrow became famous for his weekly radio news
digest. His television programs exposed the tactics of Senator Joseph
McCarthy in his campaign against alleged
subversives and the plight
of migratory workers. |
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Count
Basie, the jazz pianist whose spare, economic keyboard style and
supple rhythmic drive made
his band a major influence
for nearly fifty years. He died on this date in Florida. Among the
many pieces he composed, the one most familiar was one O'Clock Jump. |
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Samuel
F.B. Morse, American artist and inventor who pioneered in the development
of the telegraph and the use of the Vorse Code and also was a notable
painter. The code was a sonic alphabet with dots and dashes and
built the first telegraph line from Baltimore to Washington, a distance
of 26 miles. |
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Ulysses
Simpson Grant, 18th president of the United States. As a soldier
he rose to national prominence in the Civil War. After many of Lincoln's
generals had failed to win battles, Grant was chosen to lead the
Union armies to victory. He was elected president because of his
military leadership but his administration as president was very
inauspicious. |
Grant's
Tomb was dedicated by President William McKinley. It is located
in New York City on Riverside Drive overlooking the Hudson River.
It was designed by John H. Duncan at a cost of
$600,000 raised by popular
subscription. The mausoleum is of white marble with Grant's famous
words, "Let us have peace." |
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James
Monroe, 5th president of the United States. His election led to
the "Era of Good Feelings." Sent to France by President
Thomas Jefferson, he negotiated the purchase of the Louisiana Territory.
His administration was notable for the Missouri Compromise and the
enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine which stated that all countries
of the western hemisphere were under
the protection of the
United States. |
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William
Randolph Hearst, American editor, publisher and political leader.
He created the nation's largest newspaper chain, fought for social
reform, served in Congress and longed for the presidency. He was
a colossal spender with a penchant for buying and building castles
and filling them with objects of art. He spent $15 million in such
pursuits in one year. |
Duke
Ellington, American jazz composer, orchestra leader and pianist
who was one of the first to compose and arrange jazz music for a
large orchestra. By the time he was 50, Ellington had earned so
much money from royalties on his compositions that he could have
retired but he preferred to
maintain his orchestra
so that he could hear his music performed as soon as it was written.
He died in New York City on May 24, 1974. His popularity had been
international. |
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New
York World's Fair was open to the public. President Franklin D.
Roosevelt formally dedicated
the exposition in a speech
delivered to 600,000 listeners. The official theme was progress
and peace but everyone knew that Europe is on the brink of war. |
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