This Week In American History

January 18 1919 Leaders of the Allied powers—France, Great Britain, the United States and Italy meet in Paris to begin the negotiations that would officially mark the end of the...

January 11 1908 U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declared the massive Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona a national monument. He declared, “Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now...

January 4 1847 Samuel Colt rescued the future of his faltering gun company by winning a contract to provide the U.S. government with 1,000 of his .44 caliber revolvers. Before...

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...