This Week In American History

October 20 1803 The U.S. Senate approved a treaty with France providing for the purchase of the territory of Louisiana, which would double the size of the U.S. Facing war...

October 13 1775 The Continental Congress authorized construction and administration of the first American naval force—the precursor to the United States Navy. Since the outbreak of open hostilities with the...

October 6 1866 Brothers John and Simeon Reno staged the first train robbery in American history, making off with $13,000 from an Ohio and Mississippi railroad train in Jackson County, Indiana. The Reno...

September 29 1967 "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" was released by Gladys Knight & the Pips. It went on to be a hit for the group, reaching number one...

September 22 1862 President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which set a date for the freedom of more than 3 million enslaved in the United States and recast...

September 15    1950 U.S. Marines landed at Inchon on the west coast of Korea. The location had been criticized as too risky, but U.N. Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur insisted on...

September 8 1965 Iconic series "Star Trek" premiered on NBC. The show lasted for three seasons and followed the crew of the starship USS Enterprise as it completed its missions...

September 1 1972 In what’s billed as the “Match of the Century,” American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer defeats Russian Boris Spassky during the World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland. In the...

August 25 1916 The National Park Service was established as part of the Department of the Interior when the National Park Service Organic Act was signed by Woodrow Wilson. The National...

August 18 1590 John White, the governor of the Roanoke Island colony in present-day North Carolina, returned from a supply-trip to England to find the settlement deserted. White and his men...

August 11 1934 A group of federal prisoners classified as “most dangerous” arrives at Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre rocky outcrop situated 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay. The convicts—the first civilian...

August 4 1753 George Washington, a young Virginia planter, became a Master Mason, the highest basic rank in the secret fraternity of Freemasonry. The ceremony was held at the Masonic...