The Sickly Boy Who Became the Strenuous Life
On October 27, 1858, Theodore Roosevelt was born a sickly, asthmatic boy in Manhattan — and grew up to remake the American presidency.
Tagged: presidents
An Eternal Flame Is Lit: JFK's State Funeral, 1963
On November 25, 1963, three days after his assassination, President John F. Kennedy was buried at Arlington as the world watched and his widow lit an eternal flame.
The 11-Year-Old Who Gave Lincoln His Beard
On October 15, 1860, eleven-year-old Grace Bedell wrote Abraham Lincoln a letter that changed the face of his presidency — literally.
Shot in Milwaukee: The Night a Bullet Couldn't Stop Roosevelt
On October 14, 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was shot in Milwaukee — then delivered his ninety-minute campaign speech anyway.
The Cornerstone That Built the White House
On October 13, 1792, a Masonic ceremony laid the cornerstone of the President's House — the building we now call the White House.
The Afternoon the Presidency Changed Hands
On September 14, 1901, hours after William McKinley died, Theodore Roosevelt took the presidential oath in the library of a friend's Buffalo home.
The Same Fourth of July: Adams and Jefferson's Final Coincidence
On July 4, 1826 — fifty years to the day after the Declaration — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within hours of each other.
One Vote Away: Andrew Johnson Survives Impeachment
On May 26, 1868, the Senate acquitted President Andrew Johnson on impeachment charges by a single vote — 35 to 19 — setting a precedent for every impeachment since.
The Moonshot Speech: Kennedy Pledges America to the Moon
On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy told Congress America would land a man on the Moon before the decade was out — before NASA had even orbited an astronaut.
America's First Election Day: Washington Chosen Unanimously
From December 1788 through January 7, 1789, America's first presidential election picked George Washington — still the only unanimous choice in the nation's history.
Lincoln Takes the Oath on the Edge of Civil War
On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th president at the unfinished U.S. Capitol, pleading for the Union weeks before the Civil War began.
A Song Becomes the National Anthem at Last
On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed the law that made "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official national anthem of the United States.
The Day America Invented the National Park
On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, creating the world's first national park.
The Governor Who Stood in the Schoolhouse Door
On June 11, 1963, Alabama's governor blocked two Black students from registering at the University of Alabama — and that night President Kennedy called civil rights a moral issue on TV.
The Night America Lost Lincoln
On April 14, 1865 — five days after Lee's surrender — actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, making Lincoln the first U.S. president assassinated.