History Byte: July 24, 1974 - The Court decision that ended Nixon’s presidency

Constitution Center

On display at the National Constitution Center: Recorder installed in the White House. Courtesy of Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives and Records Administration

It was 40 years ago today that the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a fatal blow to President Richard Nixon’s presidency, in a decision that led to the release of the Watergate tapes.

The case of United States v. Nixon reached the Court on July 8, 1974, after it had concluded its prior term. The Justices found themselves in uncharted territory as it had to an executive privilege claim filed by President Nixon’s attorneys.

A grand jury has returned indictments against seven Nixon aides, including former Attorney General John Mitchell, as part of the Watergate investigation. Leon Jaworski, a special prosecutor appointed by President Nixon, and the seven defendants wanted access to audio tapes of conversations recorded by President Nixon in the White House...   READ MORE

History Byte: July 19, 1884 - President Chester Arthur proclaims power to impose quarantine on immigrants

History

On this day in 1884, President Chester Arthur issues a proclamation that grants him and the federal government the power to quarantine persons entering the United States through its ports of entry to avoid the spread of "pestilence." Although the proclamation used the word pestilence several times, it did not mention the specific name of the dreaded disease from which Arthur was trying to protect the nation: tuberculosis.

Chester Alan Arthur
 (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886)
21st President of the United States (1881–85)

Although individual states usually maintained their own quarantine laws, Arthur saw the need to broaden the federal government's powers to intervene in a national health crisis. Arthur served as president during an economic depression, when the nation was already in a state of anxiety and fearful of a resurgence in immigration from Europe and Asia, where tuberculosis was epidemic. He advised cities along the coasts to "resist the power of the disease and to mitigate its severity." Without elaborating, Arthur was authorizing people to report to the federal government persons suspected of carrying highly contagious diseases.

Since the country's inception, several presidents have had to impose quarantine regulations. George Washington signed the first quarantine act in 1799 at a time when variations of the plague and smallpox still posed deadly threats. Foreign ships deemed in "insanitary [sic] conditions" could be seized by federal officers and the passengers placed in quarantine at hospitals.

In 1918, 657,000 Americans were killed when a deadly worldwide pandemic called the "Spanish Flu" swept through the nation. Some historical accounts claim that President Woodrow Wilson contracted this flu while in Paris for the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, although it is uncertain which strain of flu virus he had.

During his first term, President George W. Bush added Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which originated in China and threatened to spread like wildfire, to the list of diseases for which government quarantine procedures could be implemented. Currently, diseases caused by biological weapons, such as anthrax, or the deadly influenza virus carried by poultry and other birds pose an additional danger to the United States.

History Byte: RIP Archie Andrews (1941 - 2014) - Archie Takes a Bullet for the Gay Guy.

By Kim D.

The penultimate issue of Life with Archie hits the stands today, and the comic book creators are ending the series with a literal bang. Archie will meet his demise by stepping in the path of a bullet meant for his friend Kevin Keller, a newly elected U.S. senator who stood on a gun control platform.

 For those of you who haven't seen an Archie comic since you were in middle school, in 2010 Riverdale High introduced the first openly gay comic character, Kevin Keller, in Veronica. And in Life with Archie #16, Kevin returns from serving in the military to marry Clay. Cover artwork for the issue showed Kevin and husband Clay standing in front of a "Just Married" sign as the gang cheers on.

As the series comes to an end, Kevin is a newly elected senator who's pushing for greater gun control in Riverdale after Clay is involved in a shooting. Archie's life is cut short when he intervenes in an assassination attempt on Kevin.

So, Archie is literally biting a bullet in the name of gun control. And, having him make that ultimate sacrifice for the comic’s celebrated gay character instead of Betty, Veronica, or Jughead is another pat on the back.

According to Comics Alliance, it is not surprising to see Archie Comics tackling such a serious issue — as we mentioned last week in our analysis of the publisher’s new Dark Circle superhero line, the publisher doesn’t shy away from risky ideas. Despite overwhelming support for more restrictive gun laws in the U.S., America’s powerful gun lobby has been highly effective in setting the terms of the debate and browbeating politicians against action. Next month’s final issue of the series will deal with the aftermath of Archie’s death.

History Byte: July 14, 1882 - Gunfighter Johnny Ringo found dead

History

John Ringo, the famous gun-fighting gentleman, is found dead in Turkey Creek Canyon,Arizona.

John Peters Ringo (May 3, 1850 – July 13, 1882)

Romanticized in both life and death, John Ringo was supposedly a Shakespeare-quoting gentleman whose wit was as quick as his gun. Some believed he was college educated, and his sense of honor and courage was sometimes compared to that of a British lord. In truth, Ringo was not a formally educated man, and he came from a struggling working-class Indiana family that gave him few advantages. Yet, he does appear to have been better read than most of his associates, and he clearly cultivated an image as a refined gentleman.

By the time he was 12, Ringo was already a crack shot with either a pistol or rifle. He left home when he was 19, eventually ending up in Texas, where in 1875 he became involved in a local feud known as the "Hoodoo War." He killed at least two men, but seems to have either escaped prosecution, or when arrested, escaped his jail cell. By 1878, he was described as "one of the most desperate men in the frontier counties" of Texas, and he decided it was time to leave the state.

In 1879, Ringo resurfaced in southeastern Arizona, where he joined the motley ranks of outlaws and gunslingers hanging around the booming mining town of Tombstone. Nicknamed "Dutch," Ringo had a reputation for being a reserved loner who was dangerous with a gun. He haunted the saloons of Tombstone and was probably an alcoholic. Not long after he arrived, Ringo shot a man dead for refusing to join him in a drink. Somehow, he again managed to avoid imprisonment by temporarily leaving town. He was not involved in the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1881, but he did later challenge Doc Holliday (one of the survivors of the O.K. Corral fight) to a shootout. Holliday declined and citizens disarmed both men.

The manner of Ringo's demise remains something of a mystery. He seems to have become despondent in 1882, perhaps because his family had treated him coldly when he had earlier visited them in San Jose. Witnesses reported that he began drinking even more heavily than usual. On this day in 1882, he was found dead in Turkey Creek Canyon outside of Tombstone. It looked as if Ringo had shot himself in the head and the official ruling was that he had committed suicide. Some believed, however, that he had been murdered either by his drinking friend Frank "Buckskin" Leslie or a young gambler named "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce." To complicate matters further, Wyatt Earp later claimed that he had killed Ringo. The truth remains obscure to this day.

Toyz R' Bust: Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab

A. C. Gilbert Heritage Society

Gilbert’s U-238 Atomic Energy Lab was the most elaborate Atomic Energy educational set ever produced. Before Gilbert introduced his own Atomic Energy Lab in 1951, the American Basic Science Club produced their Atomic Energy Lab kit which came with real samples of uranium (which is radioactive) and radium (which is a million times more radioactive than uranium).

Gilbert’s Atomic Energy Lab came with four types of uranium ore, a beta-alpha source (Pb-210), a pure beta source (Ru-106), a gamma source (Zn-65?), a spinthariscope, a cloud chamber with its own short-lived alpha source (Po-210), an electroscope, a geiger counter, a manual, a comic book (Learn How Dagwood Splits the Atom) and a government manual “Prospecting for Uranium.” Using real radioactive materials, one could witness mist trails created by particles of ionizing radiation.

A product catalogue at the time describes the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab as follows: 

“Produces awe-inspiring sights! Enables you to actually SEE the paths of electrons and alpha particles traveling at speeds of more than 10,000 miles per SECOND! Electrons racing at fantastic velocities produce delicate, intricate paths of electrical condensation–beautiful to watch. Viewing Cloud Chamber action is the closest man has come to watching the Atom! The assembly kit (Chamber can be put together in a few minutes) includes Dri-Electric Power Pack, Deionizer, Compression Bulb, Glass Viewing Chamber, Tubings, power leads, Stand and Legs.”

The Atomic Energy Lab was only around for one year to 1952. In addition, it was a relatively high price for the time ($50.00). This was the reason given for its short lifespan as well as the sophistication of the lab. However even at $50.00, the company lost money on every one sold...  READ MORE

History Byte: July 12, 1933 - First Dymaxion car produced

History

The first three-wheeled, multi-directional Dymaxion car--designed by the architect, engineer and philosopher Buckminster Fuller--is manufactured in Bridgeport,Connecticut, on this day in 1933.

 Buckminster Fuller
(July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983)

Born in Massachusetts in 1895, Fuller set out to live his life as (in his own words) "an experiment to find what a single individual can contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity." After making up the world "Dymaxion" as a combination of the words "dynamic," "maximum" and "ion," he took the word as his own personal brand. Among his groundbreaking creations were the geodesic dome and the Dymaxion house, which was made of lightweight aluminum and could be shipped by air and assembled on site. 

Dymaxion house

In 1927, Fuller first sketched the Dymaxion car under the name "4D transport." Part aircraft, part automobile, it had wings that inflated. Five years later, Fuller asked his friend, the sculptor Isamu Noguchi, to make more sketches of the car. The result was an elongated teardrop design, with a rear third wheel that lifted off the ground and a tail fin. Fuller set up production of the Dymaxion car in a former Locomobile factory in Bridgeport in March 1933. The first model rolled out of the Bridgeport factory on July 12, 1933--Fuller's 38th birthday. It had a steel chassis (or frame) and a body made of ash wood, covered with an aluminum skin and topped with a painted canvas roof. It was designed to be able to reach a speed of 120 miles per hour and average 28 miles per gallon of gasoline.

Sold to Gulf Oil, the Dymaxion car went on display at the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago. That October, however, the professional driver Francis Turner was killed after the Dymaxion car turned over during a demonstration. An investigation cleared Dymaxion of responsibility, but investors became scarce, despite the enthusiasm of the press and of celebrities such as the novelist H.G. Wells and the painter Diego Rivera.

1933 Dymaxion

Along with the Nazi-built KdF-wagen (the forerunner of the Volkswagen Beetle), the Dymaxion was one of several futuristic, rear-engined cars developed during the 1930s. Though it was never mass-produced, the Dymaxion helped lead to public acceptance of new streamlined passenger cars, such as the 1936 Lincoln Zephyr. In 2008, the only surviving Dymaxion was featured in an exhibit dedicated to Fuller's work at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. An article published in The New York Timesabout the exhibit recalled Fuller's own impressions of the Dymaxion: "I knew everyone would call it a car," he told the literary critic Hugh Kenner in the 1960s; instead, it was actually "the land-taxiing phase of a wingless, twin orientable jet stilts flying device."  

History Byte: July 9, 1850 - President Zachary Taylor dies of cholera

History

Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, dies suddenly from an attack of cholera morbus. He was succeeded by Millard Fillmore.

Zachary Taylor
(November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850)

Raised in Kentucky with little formal schooling, Zachary Taylor received a U.S. Army commission in 1808. He became a captain in 1810 and was promoted to major during the War of 1812 in recognition of his defense of Fort Harrison against attack by Shawnee chief Tecumseh. In 1832, he became a colonel and served in the Black Hawk War and in the campaigns against the Seminole Indians in Florida, winning the nickname of "Old Rough and Ready" for his informal attire and indifference to physical adversity.

Millard Fillmore
 (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874)

Sent to the Southwest to command the U.S. Army at the Texas border, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846. In May, Taylor defeated the Mexicans at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and in September he captured the city of Monterrey. In February 1847, he achieved his crowning military victory at the Battle of Buena Vista, where his force triumphed despite being outnumbered three to one. This victory firmly established Taylor as a popular hero, and in 1848, despite his lack of a clear political platform, he was nominated the Whig presidential candidate.

Elected in November, Taylor soon fell under the influence of William H. Seward, a powerful Whig senator, and in 1849 he supported the Wilmot Proviso, which would exclude slavery from all the territory acquired as a result of the Mexican War. His inflexible responses to Southern criticisms of this policy aggravated the nation's North-South conflict and revealed his political inexperience. Matters were at a stalemate when he died suddenly on July 9, 1850.

History Byte: July 4, 1826 - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die

History

On this day in 1826, former Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who were once fellow Patriots and then adversaries, die on the same day within five hours of each other.

Thomas Jefferson
(April 13 [O.S. April 2] 1743 – July 4, 1826)

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were the last surviving members of the original American revolutionaries who had stood up to the British empire and forged a new political system in the former colonies. However, while they both believed in democracy and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their opinions on how to achieve these ideals diverged over time.

Adams preceded Jefferson as president (1797-1800); it was during this time that their ideas about policy-making became as distinct as their personalities. The irascible and hot-tempered Adams was a firm believer in a strong centralized government, while the erudite and gentile Jefferson believed federal government should take a more hands-off approach and defer to individual states' rights. As Adams' vice president, Jefferson was so horrified by what he considered to be Adams' abuse of the presidency--particularly his passage of the restrictive Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798--that he abandoned Adams and Washington for his estate at Monticello. There, he plotted how to bring his Republican faction back into power in the presidential election of 1800. After an exceptionally bitter campaign, in which both parties engaged in slanderous attacks on each other in print, Jefferson emerged victorious. It appeared the former friends would be eternal enemies.

John Adams
(October 30 [O.S. October 19] 1735 – July 4, 1826) 

After serving two presidential terms (1801-1809), Jefferson and Adams each expressed to third parties their respect the other and their desire to renew their friendship. Adams was the first to break the silence; he sent Jefferson a letter dated January 1, 1812, in which he wished Jefferson many happy new years to come. Jefferson responded with a note in which he fondly recalled when they were fellow laborers in the same cause. The former revolutionaries went on to resume their friendship over 14 years of correspondence during their golden years.

On July 4, 1826, at the age of 90, Adams lay on his deathbed while the country celebrated Independence Day. His last words were Thomas Jefferson still survives. He was mistaken: Jefferson had died five hours earlier at Monticello at the age of 82.

History Byte: June 29, 1835 - Texan William Travis prepares for war with Mexico

History

Determined to win independence for the Mexican State of Texas, William Travis raises a volunteer army of 25 soldiers and prepares to liberate the city of Anahuac.

Born in South Carolina and raised in Alabama, William Travis moved to Mexican-controlled Texas in 1831 at the age of 22. He established a legal practice in Anahuac, a small frontier town about 40 miles east of Houston. From the start, Travis disliked Mexicans personally and resented Mexican rule of Texas politically. In 1832, he clashed with local Mexican officials and was jailed for a month. When he was released, the growing Texan independence movement hailed him as a hero, strengthening his resolve to break away from Mexico by whatever means necessary.

Early in 1835, the Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna overthrew the republican government and proclaimed himself dictator. Rightly fearing that some Texans would rebel as a result, Santa Anna quickly moved to reinforce Mexican control and dispatched troops to Anahuac, among other areas. Accustomed to enjoying a large degree of autonomy, some Texans resented the presence of Santa Anna's troops, and they turned to Travis for leadership.

On this day in 1835, Travis raised a company of 25 volunteer soldiers. The next day, the small army easily captured Captain Antonio Tenorio, the leader of Santa Anna's forces in Anahuac, and forced the troops to surrender. More radical Texans again proclaimed Travis a hero, but others condemned him for trying to foment war and maintained that Santa Anna could still be dealt with short of revolution. By the fall of 1835, however, conflict had become inevitable, and Texans prepared to fight a war of independence.

As soon as the rebels had formed an army, Travis was made a lieutenant colonel in command of the regular troops at San Antonio. On February 23, 1836, Travis joined forces with Jim Bowie's army of volunteers to occupy an old Spanish mission known as the Alamo. The following day, Santa Anna and about 4,000 of his men laid siege to the Alamo. With less than 200 soldiers, Travis and Bowie were able to hold off the Mexicans for 13 days. On March 6, Santa Anna's soldiers stormed the Alamo and killed nearly every Texan defender, including Travis.

In the months that followed, "Remember the Alamo" became a rallying cry as the Texans successfully drove the Mexican forces from their borders. By April, Texas had won its independence. Travis, who first hastened the war of independence and then became a martyr to the cause, became an enduring symbol of Texan courage and defiance.

The Travis Letter - "Victory or Death"

Commandancy of the The Alamo

Bejar, Feby. 24th. 1836

To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World—

Fellow Citizens & compatriots—

     I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna — I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man — The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken — I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls — I shall never surrender or retreat.  Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch — The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days.  If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country — Victory or Death.

William Barrett Travis.

Lt.  Col. comdt.

P. S.  The Lord is on our side — When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn — We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves.

Travis

History Byte: June 25, 1876 - Battle of Little Bighorn

History

On this day in 1876, Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bulldefeat the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana's Little Bighorn River.

George Armstrong Custer
(December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876)

Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, leaders of the Sioux tribe on the Great Plains, strongly resisted the mid-19th-century efforts of the U.S. government to confine their people to reservations. In 1875, after gold was discovered in South Dakota's Black Hills, the U.S. Army ignored previous treaty agreements and invaded the region. This betrayal led many Sioux and Cheyenne tribesmen to leave their reservations and join Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse in Montana. By the late spring of 1876, more than 10,000 Native Americanshad gathered in a camp along the Little Bighorn River--which they called the Greasy Grass--in defiance of a U.S. War Department order to return to their reservations or risk being attacked.

In mid-June, three columns of U.S. soldiers lined up against the camp and prepared to march. A force of 1,200 Native Americans turned back the first column on June 17. Five days later, General Alfred Terry ordered Custer's 7th Cavalry to scout ahead for enemy troops. On the morning of June 25, Custer drew near the camp and decided to press on ahead rather than wait for reinforcements.

Crazy Horse
(ca. 1840 – September 5, 1877)

At mid-day, Custer's 600 men entered the Little Bighorn Valley. Among the Native Americans, word quickly spread of the impending attack. The older Sitting Bull rallied the warriors and saw to the safety of the women and children, while Crazy Horse set off with a large force to meet the attackers head on. Despite Custer's desperate attempts to regroup his men, they were quickly overwhelmed. Custer and some 200 men in his battalion were attacked by as many as 3,000 Native Americans; within an hour, Custer and every last one of his soldier were dead.

Sitting Bull
(c. 1831 - December 15, 1890)

The Battle of Little Bighorn--also called Custer's Last Stand--marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. The gruesome fate of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their image of the Indians as wild and bloodthirsty. Meanwhile, the U.S. government increased its efforts to subdue the tribes. Within five years, almost all of the Sioux and Cheyenne would be confined to reservations.

History Byte: June 18, 1812 - War of 1812 begins

History

The day after the Senate followed the House of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great Britain, President James Madison signs the declaration into law--and the War of 1812 begins. The American war declaration, opposed by a sizable minority in Congress, had been called in response to the British economic blockade of France, the induction of American seaman into the British Royal Navy against their will, and the British support of hostile Indian tribes along the Great Lakes frontier. A faction of Congress known as the "War Hawks" had been advocating war with Britain for several years and had not hidden their hopes that a U.S. invasion of Canada might result in significant territorial land gains for the United States.

James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836) 

In the months after President Madison proclaimed the state of war to be in effect, American forces launched a three-point invasion of Canada, all of which were decisively unsuccessful. In 1814, with Napoleon Bonaparte's French Empire collapsing, the British were able to allocate more military resources to the American war, and Washington, D.C., fell to the British in August. In Washington, British troops burned the White House, the Capitol, and other buildings in retaliation for the earlier burning of government buildings in Canada by U.S. soldiers.

In September, the tide of the war turned when Thomas Macdonough's American naval force won a decisive victory at the Battle of Plattsburg Bay on Lake Champlain. The invading British army was forced to retreat back into Canada. The American victory on Lake Champlain led to the conclusion of U.S.-British peace negotiations in Belgium, and on December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed, formally ending the War of 1812. By the terms of the agreement, all conquered territory was to be returned, and a commission would be established to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada.

British forces assailing the Gulf Coast were not informed of the treaty in time, and on January 8, 1815, the U.S. forces under Andrew Jackson achieved the greatest American victory of the war at the Battle of New Orleans. The American public heard of Jackson's victory and the Treaty of Ghent at approximately the same time, fostering a greater sentiment of self-confidence and shared identity throughout the young republic.

The Battle of New Orleans

History Byte: June 17, 1972 - Security Guard Frank Wills Thwarts Watergate Burglars

Before the summer of 1972, the word "Watergate" meant nothing more than an office and luxurious apartment complex in Washington, D.C. As a result of a "third-rate burglary" on June 17 of that year, it came to be associated with the greatest political scandal of that century and would change the lives of the many people involved — especially President Richard M. Nixon.

While doing his rounds atthe Watergate Hotel in the early morning of June 17,1972, security guard Frank Wills found a door, located between the basement stairwell and the parking garage, that was being prevented from latching by apiece of tape. He removed the tape and continued his rounds. Returning tothe same spot later, he discovered that someone had re-taped the door. His curiosity now aroused, he called the police. Around 2:30 a.m., after the police arrived, five men, wearing business suits and latex gloves, were arrested in the offices of the Democratic National Committee. The men had been repairing wiretapping equipment and, according to some, taking pictures of documentation.

The fiveburglars were later identified as Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, and James W. McCord Jr. Bob Woodward of the Washington Post was present at their arraignment and overheard McCord mention "CIA" in connection with his occupation.Another of the arrested men identified his occupation as"anti-communist." Intrigued, Woodward investigated further. It was later established that McCord was responsible for security for the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP), i.e. to re-elect Republican Richard M. Nixon. Another link to the White House came to light whenthe phone number for E. Howard Hunt, a former White House employee, was found in Barker's notebook.

History Byte: June 16, 1738 - Patriot printer, publisher and postmistress, Mary Katharine Goddard, born

History

On this day in 1738, Mary Katharine Goddard is born in New London, Connecticut. She went on to publish the first version of the Declaration of Independence to include all of the Congressional signatures.

Mary Katharine Goddard 
(June 16, 1738 – August 12, 1816)

Mary Goddard's professional life was inextricably bound with that of her brother, William. They worked together in print shops he owned in Providence, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before moving to Baltimore, Maryland. While William traveled extensively in his efforts to build their business, Mary maintained the day-to- day operations in Baltimore. In 1775, William and his network showed their confidence in Mary's abilities by naming her Baltimore's postmaster. She held this post throughout the turbulent years of the War of Independence. In 1777, when Congress decided to print the Declaration of Independence including a complete list of signatures, they chose the Goddards as printers. As usual, Mary, not William, was running operations, and thus the document appeared "printed by Mary Katherine Goddard."

During the war years, Mary printed the revolutionary Maryland Journal begun by her brother. William resumed control of the business following a quarrel between the siblings in 1784. With the founding of the new federal government in 1789, the new postmaster general, Samuel Osgood, replaced Goddard with a male novice political appointee, John White. Osgood claimed that the job involved too much travel for a female. Despite a petition from 230 citizens demanding that Goddard "be restored" to the role in which she had given "universal Satisfaction to the community," Mary Goddard was reduced to running the bookstore attached to the print shop. She died on August 12, 1816, leaving her personal property to her black maid and companion.

(At bottom of Declaration of Independence: ...printed by  Mary Katharine Goddard)

History Byte: June 15, 1775 - George Washington assigned to lead the Continental Army

In keeping with our Father's Day theme it's only fitting to include the Father of our Country...

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)

History

On this day in 1775, George Washington, who would one day become the first American president, accepts an assignment to lead the Continental Army.

Washington had been managing his family's plantation and serving in the VirginiaHouse of Burgesses when the second Continental Congress unanimously voted to have him lead the revolutionary army. He had earlier distinguished himself, in the eyes of his contemporaries, as a commander for the British army in the French and Indian War of 1754.

Born a British citizen and a former Redcoat, Washington had, by the 1770s, joined the growing ranks of colonists who were dismayed by what they considered to be Britain's exploitative policies in North America. In 1774, Washington joined the Continental Congress as a delegate from Virginia. The next year, the Congress offered Washington the role of commander in chief of the Continental Army.

After accepting the position, Washington sat down and wrote a letter to his wife, Martha, in which he revealed his concerns about his new role. He admitted to his "dear Patcy" that he had not sought the post but felt "it was utterly out of my power to refuse this appointment without exposing my Character to such censures as would have reflected dishonour upon myself, and given pain to my friends." He expressed uneasiness at leaving her alone, told her he had updated his will and hoped that he would be home by the fall. He closed the letter with a postscript, saying he had found some of "the prettiest muslin" but did not indicate whether it was intended for her or for himself.

On July 3, 1775, Washington officially took command of the poorly trained and under-supplied Continental Army. After six years of struggle and despite frequent setbacks, Washington managed to lead the army to key victories and Great Britain eventually surrendered in 1781. Due largely to his military fame and humble personality, Americans overwhelmingly elected Washington their first president in 1789.

History Byte: June 14, 1777 - Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes

Flag Day: National day of observance- June 14th

History

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that "the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white" and that "the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." The national flag, which became known as the "Stars and Stripes," was based on the "Grand Union" flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend.

With the entrance of new states into the United States after independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union. In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states.

On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. As instructed by Congress, the U.S. flag was flown from all public buildings across the country. In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a national day of observance.