This Week In American History

February 26  1929 In a controversial move that inspired charges of eastern domination of the West, Congress established Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Today, Grand Teton National Park encompasses...

The story of Presidents' Day date begins in 1800. Following the death of George Washington in 1799, his February 22 birthday became a perennial day of remembrance. At the time,...

Valentine's Day was named after its patron saint, St. Valentine, but there's actually at least two men named Valentine that could've inspired the holiday, including one Valentine who was a...

February 19   1807 Aaron Burr, a former U.S. vice president, was arrested in Alabama on charges of plotting to annex Spanish territory in Louisiana and Mexico to be used...

February 12 1909 A group that included African American leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett announced the formation of a new organization. Called the National Association...

February 5    1631 Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island and an important American religious leader, arrived in Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England. A Puritan, he...

January 29 1845 Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “The Raven,” beginning “Once upon a midnight dreary,” was published in the New York Evening Mirror. Equally praised and panned by critics...

January 22      1968 "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin released her twelfth studio album, Lady Soul. The masterpiece includes some of her biggest hit singles: "Chain of Fools", (You...

January 15    1929 Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a Baptist minister. King received a doctorate degree in theology and in 1955 helped...

January 8 1978 Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, took his place on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. A native of Long...

The first New Year’s celebration dates back 4,000 years. Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome, was the first to declare January 1st a national holiday. He named the month after...

January 1   1863 A farmer named Daniel Freeman submitted the first claim under the new Homestead Act for a property near Beatrice, Nebraska. Signed into law in 1862 by...