This Week In American History

December 28 1832 Citing political differences with President Andrew Jackson and a desire to fill a vacant Senate seat in South Carolina, John C. Calhoun becomes the first vice president...

December 21 1891 30-year-old James Naismith introduced the first game of basketball. Based on 13 rules created by Naismith, the game was tested by 18 students at the International Young...

December 14 1799 George Washington, the American revolutionary leader and first president of the United States, died at his estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia at 67 years old. Of his...

December 7 1787 In Dover, Delaware, the U.S. Constitution is unanimously ratified by all 30 delegates to the Delaware Constitutional Convention, making Delaware the first state of the modern United...

November 30 1954 The first modern instance of a meteorite striking a human being occurred in Sylacauga, Alabama, when a meteorite crashed through the roof of a house and into...

November 23 1904 III Summer (Modern) Olympic Games closed in St Louis. The first Olympic Games held in the US were scheduled for Chicago, but the location was changed to...

November 16 1907 Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory collectively entered the United States as Oklahoma, the 46th state. Oklahoma, with a name derived from the Choctaw Indian words okla, meaning...

November 9 1965 The biggest power failure in U.S. history occurred as all of New York state, portions of seven neighboring states, and parts of eastern Canada are plunged into darkness....

November 2 1947 In one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history, Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeated his Republican challenger, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, by...

October 26 1881 The Earp brothers and Doc Holliday faced off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a legendary shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. While Wyatt Earp and...

October 19 1781 Americans defeat the British at Yorktown, Virginia when British General Lord Cornwallis, hopelessly trapped, surrendered 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force, effectively bringing...

October 12 1979 Future Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson made his debut for the Los Angeles Lakers at the San Diego Clippers. Johnson scored 26 points during the Lakers 103-102...