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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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September |
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Edgar
Rice Burroughs, American novelist whose Tarzan stories created a
worldwide folk hero. He was born in Chicago and at the age of 36
he began writing stories of fantasy. In the first Tarzan book, Tarzan
of the Apes, it was followed by dozens of others. Burroughs' extraordinary
imagination produced the king of the jungle. His novels were translated
into 56 languages and sold more than 25 million copies. Tarzan has
appeared in comic strips, movies, radio and television. Burroughs
died in Los Angeles on March 19, 1950. |
Walter Reuther, American
labor leader, president of the United Automobile Workers. He also
served as president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations
and
after its merger with
the American Federation of Labor, he was vice president of the AFL-CIO
for 13 years from 1955 to 1968.
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The
Fall of Atlanta in the Civil War under the command of General William
T. Sherman against the Confederate General John B. Hood. It was
one of the decisive battles of the Civil War. Atlanta was devastated
and completely destroyed by fire. Sherman's victory cleared the
way for other climactic victories. On November 15, Sherman began
his famous march to the sea, Savannah, GA. |
Father Charles E. Coughlin,
radio priest who attacked the Roosevelt administration, was censured
by the Vatican. The Catholic priest's sermons, broadcast from the
Shrine of the Little Flower, have been highly critical of the president,
saying that his programs have done far too little for the poor.
His political newspaper
called Social Justice had a circulation in the millions.
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The
Treaty called the Peace of Paris was signed to end the American
Revolutionary War. The peace settlement was a great diplomatic achievement.
Britain recognized American independence and most important granted
America the territory between the Appalachians and the Mississippi
River. |
Japan signs unconditional
surrender. The war in the Pacific officially ended in a brief ceremony
on the American battleship Missouri. Clouds covered Tokyo Bay as
Japan and the Allies signed the documents.
General Douglas MacArthur
accepted the Japanese surrender. He urged both sides to put the
war behind them.
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Marcus
Whitman, American missionary and pioneer among the Nez Perce Indians
of the far West. He led a group of missionaries from New York to
establish mission stations at Walla Walla, Washington and Lewiston,
Idaho. on November 29, 1847, the Whitmans and others were murdered
by the Cayuse Indians. |
David Gaillard, American
military engineer who built the most difficult part of the Panama
Canal.
Geologists called the
project "impossible" because of the numerous landslides.
Work required an excavation of eight miles through the continental
divide.
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Jesse
Woodson James, American outlaw, who with his brother Frank, terrorized
the western states of Kansas and Missouri during the Civil War.
They were the first bank robbers in peacetime. By 1873 the James
boys had progressed to train robbery. Jesse was shot
in the back of the head by Robert Ford, someone he had hired to
rob banks. No doubt Ford had been seeking to get the reward money.
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William
Rosecrans, American soldier who held important Union Army commands
in the Civil War until the crushing defeat at Chickamauga brought
about his eclipse. His dilatory tactics in the Tennessee campaign
displeased officials in Washington. Confederate Braxton Bragg forced
him to surrender. |
Jane Addams was an American
social worker who founded the Chicago social welfare center known
as Hull House. It grew rapidly and soon became the most famous settlement
house in America. She was a social reformer, suffragette and author
of many books. In 1931 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She
died in Chicago on May 21, 1935. |
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Claire
Lee Chennault, U.S. army general, commander of U.S. air forces in
China during World War II. In 1941 he organized and trained the
'Flying Tigers' consisting of U.S. pilots recruited to fight for
the Chinese. He operated in the Chinese-Burma sector in coalition
with General Chiang Kai-shek's troops. He died in New Orleans on
July 27, 1958. |
The Assassination of President
William McKinley took place at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo,
New York to make an important speech on America's world role.
An anarchist named Leon
Czolgosz shot the president during a public reception in the Temple
of Music. McKinley died eight days later.
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Grandma
Moses, American artist who captured simple times with direct strokes,
choosing bright, undaunted hues. She could not point to any painter
who inspired her. As she always lived on a farm, it is unlikely
any other artist had a chance to influence her. She died at the
age of 101. |
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Michael
E. Debakey, American heart surgeon noted for his pioneering work
in the treatment of cardio-vascular disease. A pionner in the development
of an artificial heart, Debakey was the first to use a heart pump
successfully in a patient. Dacron artificial arteries are now used
throughout the world to replace diseased portions of arteries. |
Daniel Inouye, American
political leader born in Honolulu, Hawaii. During World War II he
served in Europe and lost his right arm in combat. When Hawaii became
a state in 1959, he served in the U.S. House,
the first American of
Japanese descent. In 1973 and 1974 he served on the Committee Investigating
the Watergate affair.
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Charles
Guiteau, American assassin of President James A. Garfield. He was
rebuffed by the State Department seeking various political offices.
On July 2, 1881, Garfield was about to board a train in Washington,
D.C. when Guiteap shot him in the back. After Garfield died, Guiteau
was tried for murder. Guiteau was hanged on June 30, 1882. |
Robert A. Taft, U.S. political
leader from Ohio who led opposition to President Roosevelt's New
Deal programs and opposed U.S. participation in the United Nations
Organization, the European Recovery Program and the Atlantic Charter.
In 1952 he lost the presidential
nomination to Dwight D.
Eisenhower. He was the son of William Howard Taft, president in
1909. |
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Millions
celebrate Fulton's steamboat. Americans celebrated the 100th anniversary
of the launch of Fulton's steamboat, the Clermont,
with big parades and a
display of the Atlantic fleet. Crowds at New York harbor hailed
the ships by singing the national anthem. |
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1836
Joseph Wheeler, American soldier and legislator, he commanded the
Confederate cavalry in the West known as Fighting Joe. He fought
in many important battles throughout the Civil War and was ranked
by General Robert E. Lee as one of the greatest cavalry leaders
of all time. |
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Arnold
Palmer, American golfer who helped bring professional golf to a
new height of popularity in the late 1950s and 1960s. He accumulated
many major tournaments. Charging to victory late in tournaments
was his hallmark. He was enormously popular with fans who followed
him in crowds known as " Arnie ' s Army. " |
Roger
Maris, American baseball player, whose 61 home runs in 1961 broke
Babe Ruth's single season record of 60 established in 1927. A left-handed
batter, Maris paired with Mickey Mantle to give the New York Yankees
their most potent slugging
combination since the era of Ruth and Lou Gehrig. |
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The
Battle of Brandywine, an important engagement of the American Revolution.
It was fought in Pennsylvania 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia.
The British troops were victorious and able to occupy Philadelphia
during the winter of 1777. The British strategy was to cut off New
England from the other colonies. Washington's forces of 11,000 were
defeated by the British force under General William Howe. The American
army, though badly battered, was still intact. Howe's capture of
Philadelphia proved of no strategic value. |
0.
Henry, the pen name of the American author William Sidney' Porter
whose short stories entertained millions of readers put the commercial
short story on the literary map and influenced generations of young
writers in the U.S. and abroad.
At the peak of his career
he averaged a short story a week. He endured many tragedies throughout
his life. |
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H.L.
Mencken, American journalist who was famous for his irreverent social
criticism and lively invective. Mencken was always in command of
language and is remembered because of his caustic wit of American
life and culture. He had a strong influence on modern literature.
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Jesse Owens, American
track and field athlete whose four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic
Games climaxed a brilliant collegiate career and made him a legend
in his lifetime.
He broke world records
in track while attending Ohio State University and in Berlin, Germany
in view of Adolph Hitler. |
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During
the War of 1812 the Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis
Scott Key. Being held a prisoner by the British in Baltimore Harbor,
he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The following morning
the American flag was still flying which inspired Key to write the
national anthem. |
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Walter
Reed, American military physician who discovered that yellow fever
is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes. Yellow fever was
the first human disease attributed to a virus. Following Reed's
work, yellow fever was eliminated in Cuba and Panama for the construction
of the Panama Canal. |
John J. Pershing, American
general who commanded the American Expeditionary Force in Europe
during World War I. Beginning from almost nothing, within the span
of 18 months
he had created an army
2,000,000 strong whose elements in 200 days of battle decisively
defeated German troops and commanders hardened by four years of
fighting. |
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Margaret
Sanger, American birth-control advocate who was a founder and leader
of the birth-control movement in the United States. She promoted
the idea of birth control as a basic human right that should be
available to all. She was instrumental in organizing the first International
Birth Control Congress. A nurse in the slums of New York City she
saw the consequences of self-induced abortions and
pioneered her ideas eventually
winning the right for doctors to inform their patients of birth-control
methods. |
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James
Fenimore Cooper, American novelist, professional author in the New
'world. Literary criticism has yet to give full credit to the richness
and complexity of Cooper's art. The full recognition that Cooper
was a serious artist will come with the further recognition that,
beyond his inventiveness and his pioneering use of American materials,
his fiction at its best, conveys a profound understanding of the
human condition. |
William Howard Taft, 27th
president of the United States and 10th chief justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court. He was the first civil governor of the Philippine
Islands. He was Secretary of war under President Theodore Roosevelt.
He was criticized by Progressives
for his conservatism. He created the Department of Labor. |
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Orestes
Brownson, American writer and religious leader. His life was a religious
odyssey, joining various denominations seeking the only church of
his religious beliefs. He had been a member of the Presbyterians,
the Universalists, the Unitarians, and finally the Roman Catholic
Church. He became the nation's most influential organ of Catholic
opinion. He was involved in controversies with Cardinal Newman,
American bishops and leaders of the Irish community. He died in
Detroit, Michigan on April 17, 1876 |
Francis Parkman, American
historian who has been called the foremost American historical writer
for his achievements in reconstructing the nation's past. He wrote
volumes about the wars and colonization of the French and British
in North America. He is truly the greatest historian because of
his thorough research of his narratives. |
James Jerome Hill, American
railroad magnate who built up an extensive railroad system in the
northwestern United States. Hill began his career in railroads in
1878 with the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. He competed with Edward
Harriman for the Union Pacific and the Northern Pacific. Hill was
the organizer of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. |
The American Legion, a
U.S. Veterans organization has a membership of 2,700,000. It was
founded in Paris, France by an American Expeditionary Force after
World War I. Since its creation the
Legion has dedicated itself
to veterans, community interests through four major programs: rehabilitation,
child welfare, national security and Americanism. |
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Franklin
Buchanan, American naval officer who established the U.S. Naval
Academy, helped open Japan to Western commerce, commanded the first
ironclad to engage in battle and become the senior admiral in the
Confederate Navy. He commanded the ironclad Merrimack and on August
5, 1864, commanded the Tennessee in a battle at Mobile Bay which
he lost to a Union squadron. |
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The
Battle of Antietam was one of the most decisive battles of the Civil
War. It ended General Lee's first invasion of the North; it is also
known as the day on which more men were killed and wounded than
any other day of the entire war. General McClellan's army in southern
Maryland failed to pursue the demoralized Confederates and Lee's
campaign ended in failure but only a moral victory for the North. |
George
Blanda, American football player whose 26 seasons and 340 games
as a quarterback and placekicker are National Football League records.
He had numerous career scoring marks; one especially was field goals
attempted (638) and made (335). He attended the University of Kentucky
and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1949.
Blanda was elected to
the Professional Hall of Fame in 1981, his first year of eligibility.
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The
Battle of Chickamauga in southern Tennessee was a Civil War victory
for the Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg over Union
troops commanded
by General William S.
Rosecrans. Bragg's
failure to follow up the victory led to his defeat at Chattanooga. |
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The
Battle of Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley took place in the
Civil War between General Jubal Early of the Confederates and, General
Philip Sheridan of the Union troops. General Sheridan inflicted
three defeats and drove them from the valley never to return. Winchester
remained in Union hands until the end of the war. |
Leon Jaworski, American
lawyer who served as special prosecutor in the Watergate case. He
followed Archibald Cox who had been dismissed by President Nixon
for insisting on the release of White House tape recordings on the
Watergate cover-up. Jaworski got the
U.S. Supreme Court to
release the tapes. The contents revealed the complicity of the president
and Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment. |
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Charles
Carroll was born in Annapolis, Maryland to one of the most famous
Roman Catholic families in America. He lived on a 10,000 acre estate
given to him by his father. He never held public office because
of opposition from the majority of Protestants. He helped draft
the Maryland Constitution, attended the two Constitutional Conventions
and signed the Declaration of Independence.
He urged the ratification
of the U.S. Constitution. A Federalist, he opposed the War of 1812.
He died in Baltimore on November 14, 1832. |
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Henry
L. Stimson, American lawyer and statesman who served as Secretary
of State under President Herbert Hoover and Secretary of War under
Presidents William Taft and Franklin Roosevelt. He helped to expand
the U.S. Army in World War II and as chief policy adviser to President
Truman. He recommended the dropping
of the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki and justified this military action on humanitarian
grounds. |
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General
Zachary Taylor in the Rio Grande theater of war against Mexico won
minor engagements. He defeated the enemy at the battle of Monterey.
President Polk was not too pleased
with this victory. "Old
Rough and Ready" Taylor, an outspoken soldier of the Jackson
breed was becoming dangerously popular for the presidency. |
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The
Battle of Chattanooga in southern Tennessee was a decisive Civil
War engagement.
The besieged Union forces
under General George H. Thomas seized the offensive and routed the
Confederate troops under; General Braxton Bragg. |
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John
Marshall, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835,
who had a profound influence on the formation of American constitutional
law and the establishment of judicial review. To a great degree
the measure of Marshall's influence was in his qualities of character
and personalleadership. A Federalist, he did much to decide the
interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and by the wisdom of his
decisions made the Supreme Court a powerful institution. |
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Marcus
A. Hanna, American industrialist and political leader who modernized
the American Republican Party machine and won the presidency for
William McKinley. Although lampooned by reformers as a moneyed manipulator,
Hanna won respect from analysts who believed that politics required
modernization and that Hanna advanced this process. |
F. Scott Fitzgerald, one
of the great American novelists of the 'Roaring Twenties' who was
hailed as the spokesman of the jazz age as portrayed in his novel,
The Great Gatsby. He attained almost instantaneous success with
his first novel, This Side of Paradise. He portrayed without complete
detachment the hectic
disillusionment of what he called the Jazz Age in the novel, Tender
in the Night. |
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William
Faulkner, American novelist and short story writer who was one of
the most important figures in 20th century literature. His novels
are set in the imaginary Yoknapatawpha County, based on his own
native region in Mississippi. His themes, drawn from the life mainly
of poor people and
oppressed blacks in the
post-Civil War southern states. They express hardship, violence,
suffering, decadence and injustice. |
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John
Chapman, called "Johnny Appleseed" was an American pioneer
and folk hero. He actually did plant tiny apple trees, spreading
orchards across the frontier from the Allegheny River to Fort Wayne,
Indiana. Procuring apple seeds from the pomace of cider presses,
Johnny was able to establish a large number of orchards in the course
of his wanderings. He made a distinct contribution to American pomology.
He endured the hardships of the new country which assured him a
warm and affectionate place in American frontier history. |
George
Gershwin, American composer and pianist who wrote highly successful
popular songs as well as critically acclaimed serious music. His
greatest triumph was Rhapsody in Blue. The lyrics for many of his
top songs
were written by his brother
Ira. He won a number of Pulitzer Prizes for drama. |
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Samuel
Adams, American patriot who was the leading radical publicist of
the American Revolution. He was born in Boston of a wealthy family.
He strongly opposed all British legislation against the colonies
and his radical leadership promoted the revolution for independence.
His correspondence with the colonies instigated the war effort.
He was the fiercest opponent of King George III. He died in Boston
on october 2, 1803. |
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Alfred
Thayer Mahan, American naval officer and historian who achieved
worldwide fame for his concept of sea power and its influence on
history. His works had an influence on the policy of the United
States greater than the work of any other historian. Mahan's works
attracted international attention. |
Samuel
James Ervin, American lawyer and public official who became the
leading authority on the U.S. Constitution. He served on the committee
that recommended censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954 for
his allegations of Communism in the State and War Departments. He
headed the
committee investigating
the Watergate affair and the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
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Al
Capp, American cartoonist, the creator of the immensely popular
L'l Abner comic strip. It had its major setting in the hill-billy
country. His stories are satires on human conduct, the mores of
the times and contemporary human affairs. He popularized Sadie Hawkins
Day when unmarried women are licensed to pursue bachelors. |
Scandal
Rocks Baseball. Major league baseball has been shaken to its foundations
by the indictment of eight Chicago White Sox players on charges
that they had conspired with gamblers to fix the 1919 World Series.
The indictments were based
on evidence obtained for the Cook County grand jury by Charles Comiskey,
owner of the White Sox. |
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John
M. Schofield, American general in the Union Army during the Civil
War, He commanded one of the three armies of General William T.
Sherman in the campaign against Atlanta and later to join Union
forces at Nashville, Tennessee in one of the war's fiercest battles
under General George Thomas. |
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Gene
Autry, American actor and singer who was the first and one of the
most successful singing cowboys in motion pictures. With his horse
Champion he appeared in dozens of films in which he starred. Between
1939 and 1942 at the height of his career, he was one of the top
10 box-office attractions. He had his own radio show, recorded many
of his own songs and starred in national rodeos. |
Oscar
Handlin, American historian who exerted a deeply felt and pervasive
influence on American social history studies both through his own
writings and through the works of brilliant students and associates.
Handlin has written with
originality, erudition, and a popular flair on almost every phase
of American history. |
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Babe
Ruth, legendary baseball player, hit his 60th home run; he reached
a plateau never before achieved in baseball history. The wildly
cheering fans were watching
a tremendous feat. The
Babe acknowleged it all after the inning with a snappy salute from
the outfield. |
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