1777Member story · 1776 Club
Fraser's troops overtake Warner's rear guard at Hubbardton; Francis is killed, 200 taken
Riedesel's Germans arrive singing hymns to mask their numbers, and St. Clair's main army slips away into the Vermont wilderness.
1846
Sloat raises the flag over Monterey; Mexico's California falls without a shot
Sailors and marines from three warships walk ashore unopposed, ending both Mexican rule and the weeks-old California Republic declared at Sonoma.
1865Member story · 1776 Club
Four Lincoln conspirators hang at the Arsenal; Surratt is the first woman executed by the U.S. government
Powell, Herold, Atzerodt, and Surratt drop from the scaffold eighty-three days after Lincoln died, on sentence of a military tribunal; Booth himself was killed eleven weeks ago in a Virginia barn.
1898
McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution; Hawaii is annexed, and its $4 million debt with it
The House voted 209 to 91 and the Senate 42 to 21, with a Pacific war making the islands' coaling station and anchorage look essential to Washington.
1928Member story · 1776 Club
Chillicothe bakery sells the first machine-sliced loaves; Rohwedder's invention reaches the public on his 48th birthday
The Kleen Maid Sliced Bread hits shelves today, cut by Otto Rohwedder's automatic slicer, as the company calls it "the greatest forward step in baking since bread was wrapped."
1941Member story · 1776 Club
Marston's Marines land at Reykjavík; U.S. relieves British garrison while still at peace
The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, sailed from Charleston via Argentia, begins disembarkation on an island the U.S. has no treaty obligation to defend.
1944Member story · 1776 Club
4,300 starving men charge at Saipan before dawn; the fighting lasts fifteen hours
General Saitō leads walking wounded and civilians into the 105th Infantry's 1st and 2nd Battalions near Tanapag, out of food, ammunition, and nearly out of island.
1946Member story · 1776 Club
Pope Pius XII canonizes Frances Cabrini; the naturalized American is now the first U.S. saint
She died in 1917 wrapping gifts for children, leaving behind 67 institutions across four continents built for the immigrants no parish would seat at the front pew.
1952Member story · 1776 Club
SS United States passes Bishop Rock; America holds the Blue Riband for the first time in a century
Crossing from Ambrose Lightship in 3 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes at 35.59 knots, she takes the Hales Trophy from the British liners that have ruled the Atlantic.
1958
Eisenhower signs Alaska into the union; the territory has waited forty years for this moment
The House voted 210-166, the Senate 64-20; Alaska is cleared to become the 49th state, though formal admission is not yet complete.
1981Member story · 1776 Club
Reagan nominates O'Connor; no woman has ever sat on the Supreme Court in 192 years
The Arizona appeals court judge is tapped to fill the seat of retiring Justice Potter Stewart, a pledge Reagan made on the campaign trail last year.
1983Member story · 1776 Club
Samantha Smith, 10, lands in the Soviet Union; Andropov's pen pal sees Moscow for herself
The Maine girl who asked the Soviet leader "are you going to vote to have a war or not?" tours Moscow, Leningrad, and a Black Sea pioneer camp at his personal invitation.
2003Member story · 1776 Club
Opportunity lifts off for Mars; a Delta II Heavy flies that configuration for the first time
The second of two twin rovers heads for Meridiani Planum, built to last 90 Martian days, with a January landing ahead and one question to answer: did water ever flow there?
2019Member story · 1776 Club
Rapinoe converts the penalty, Lavelle finishes from 17 yards; U.S. beats Netherlands 2-0 for fourth World Cup title
Seven games, no losses, 26 goals scored: the Americans leave Lyon with more Women's World Cup titles than any nation in the tournament's history.