Two hundred fifty years ago today—August 23, 1775—King George III issued the Proclamation of Rebellion. Blood had already been spilled at Bunker Hill. The colonies had just made their final appeal for peace. But the King rejected negotiation, branded resistance as treason, and declared loyal subjects enemies of the Crown. In trying to crush a movement, he gave it form. The proclamation didn’t stop revolution—it defined it.
Months later, the Continental Congress responded with words as sharp as any musket: “Allegiance to Parliament? We never owed—we never owned it.” They insisted their resistance was not rebellion, but a defense of inherited rights: “We condemn, and with arms in our hands… we oppose the claim and exercise of unconstitutional powers.”
Image from Joyofmuseums – CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
U.S. Navy hero Oliver Hazard Perry was born on August 23, 1785 in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
He became a midshipman in the U.S. Navy when he was only 13.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
August 23, 1904
Off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island, a routine naval exercise turned into a frightening event when the U.S. submarine Porpoise dropped unexpectedly to the ocean floor. With eight men aboard and no guarantee of return, the crew battled pressure, panic, and time itself. Twenty minutes later, against all odds, the vessel broke the surface—sometimes survival occurs unexpectedly and for the crew of the USS Porpoise, it just wasn’t their time.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
A miniature of John Sevier who was the 1st Governor of Tennessee.
Sevier was also the Governor of Franklin.
Franklin was an area in present day East Tennessee that declared its independence on August 23, 1784. It existed for about 4 years and was intended to be the 14th state.
Later Andrew Jackson challenged John Sevier to a duel but no one was harmed.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On August 23, 1947, Mary Margaret Truman, the daughter of President Harry S. Truman, sang for a crowd of over 15,000 at the Hollywood Bowl. It was her first outdoor singing performance.
Image: Margaret Truman via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Army General and Medal of Honor Recipient Jonathan M. Wainwright was born on August 23, 1883 in Walla Walla, Washington. During WWII he commanded Allied forces in the Philippines and surrendered to the Japanese in an effort to prevent further American casualties. General Wainwright was held as a POW in various camps by the Japanese for nearly 40 months.
Image: “General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright greet each other at the New Grand Hotel, Yokohama, Japan, August 31, 1945, in their first meeting since they parted on Corregidor more than three years before.”
by U.S. Army via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
U.S. Army unit advancing through Fontainebleau, France on August 23, 1944
In the foreground, on the left, a vigilant American soldier is carrying an M1A1 Bazooka on his back.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Final Rest on Familiar Ground
James Parks was born enslaved on the Arlington estate and spent his life tending its soil—first as a laborer, then as a grave digger and guide to its evolving landscape. When he died on August 21, 1929, the U.S. Department of War made a rare exception to its burial rules: Parks, a civilian, was laid to rest with full military honors on August 23, 1929, in the cemetery he helped shape.
Image via Shutterstock
President Kennedy addressing the AMVETS convention in New York City by telephone from the Oval Office at The White House
August 23, 1962
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On August 23, 1814 Dolley Madison rescued a famous portrait of George Washington…
“…Not until a messenger from her husband arrived, crying, “Clear out, clear out; General Armstrong has ordered a retreat,” did she turn her back upon the White House. And even then, in the moment of a hurried and distracting departure, she had the presence of mind to secure the Stuart portrait of Washington that hung upon the dining-room wall. As the great picture could not be easily unscrewed, she gave directions to have the frame broken with an axe, and having thus removed the precious canvas, she sent it off to a place of safety in Georgetown. She also took time to save a carriage-load of Cabinet papers and the White House silver. Then, reluctantly, she took her departure. “I longed instead,” she affirmed with spirit, “to have a cannon through every window.”
From: Dames and daughters of the young republic
by Geraldine Brooks, published in 1901
https://archive.org/details/damesdaughters00broorich/page/35/mode/1up
Source says not in copyright
Photograph of a Velocipede racing a motorcycle
– August 23, 1921
via Library of Congress, no known restrictions
Betty Robinson, winner of the first 100 meter Olympic race for women, was born on August 23, 1911 in Riverdale, Illinois.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On August 23, 1909, catcher Bill Bergen, of the Brooklyn Superbas, threw out six (6) St. Louis Cardinals attempting to steal bases in one game.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Born August 23, 1912 Gene Kelly choreographed, co directed, and of course, sang and danced in some of Hollywood’s great musicals. He’s shown here (left) with Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor in “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Image via Wikimedia
Commons, no known copyright, public domain in the US
On August 23, 1904 Harry D. Weed of Canastota, New York received U.S. Patent #768,495 for his “Grip Tread for Pneumatic Tires.”
Libby Prison as it appeared on August 23, 1863
By 1863, the Confederate Libby Prison exceeded the maximum capacity of 1,000 prisoners. Many Union soldiers died at Libby due to lack of sanitation, disease and food shortages.
Before the war Libby was a tobacco warehouse.
Image via LOC, no known restrictions
On August 23, 1926 Italian actor Rudolph Valentino, who became popular in American silent films, died at the age of 31 from sepsis. He was admitted to a New York City Hospital for gastric ulcers just over a week prior.
Image: Publicity photo of Valentino from The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in 1921 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
A happy birthday to actor Vera Miles, born August 23, 1930. Vera had a 45-year career in movies and on television. She’s remembered by Western fans for her roles in two classics directed by John Ford – The Searchers with John Wayne and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with John Wayne and James Stewart (shown).
Image by Paramount Pictures via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US, no known copyright.
On August 23, 1859 the luxurious Fifth Avenue Hotel was inaugurated in Manhattan.
It featured the first passenger elevator that was installed in a hotel in America.
The building was demolished in 1908.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, no known restrictions
