“Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”- George Washington from his First State of The Union Address that he delivered on January 8, 1790.Image: George Washington and Family from National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Dr. James S. Brust, no known restrictions
John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic bishop and archbishop in the United States, was born in Marlborough Town in the Province of Maryland on January 8, 1735. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On January 8, 1815, the final battle of the War of 1812 resulted in an American victory over an invading British force at New Orleans. Andrew Jackson’s force consisted of US Army soldiers, sailors, militia from several southern states, Choctaw warriors, free men of Color and even privateer sailors sent by Jean Lafitte.Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On January 8, 1902, a bill introduced by New York assemblyman Francis Landon was passed that made it illegal for men to turn around on public streets and “Look at a woman in that way.” The men in this image, taken in 1900 on Fifth Avenue in New York City, had two years before they’d better start behaving. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
“Mrs. Helen S. Bru, clerk in the State Department’s Appointment Section, affixes the great seal of the United States to about 1200 documents per year. This is the only machine in the world which will place the seal of the United States to about 1200 documents per year.”January 8, 1938Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On January 8, 1877, in deep snow, Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Crazy Horse and Two Moons opposed US Army units led by Col. Nelson Miles at the Battle of Wolf Mountain near Montana’s Tongue River. The fighting ended in a draw. On a side note, Two Moons was one of the models for the 1913 Buffalo Nickel coin.Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.
Milton Supman (Soupy Sales) was born on today’s date January 8, 1926 in Franklinton, North Carolina.Photo: Soupy Sales and White Fang – 1957 public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President. Seated portrait, facing front, January 8, 1864via Library of Congress, no known restrictions
Major General Gouverneur Kemble Warren was born on January 8, 1830 in Cold Spring, New York. During the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg Warren, on his own accord, directed Union Forces to hold the high ground (Little Round Top).Warren’s action, to many historians, is considered to be one of the most important decisions for the North during the Civil War as it may have prevented Confederate victory at Gettysburg. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On January 8, 1953, Consuelo N. Bailey became Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives. Exactly two years later, on January 8, 1955, she became Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and the first woman to become Lieutenant Governor of any state in U.S. history.Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Heart Mountain, Wyoming. Bill Hosokawa, Editor of the Sentinel, Heart Mountain Relocation Center newpaper, and the Nisei leader in center activities, and American citizen, a graduate of the University of Washington, former west coast reporter and foreign correspondent, Bill has traveled throughout the Orient, has lived in Tokyo and Singapore, was editor of the Singapore Herald and war correspondent for the Shanghai Times and the Far East Review. A husky six footer and typical American newspaper man, Bill’s editorials, which reflect the Nisei faith in the American way, have stirred nation wide press interest. Bill is shown here with his wife Alice and their son Mike. January 8, 1943 From NARA via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Unveiling of the Mona Lisa. President Kennedy, Madame Malraux, French Minister of Cultural Affairs Andre Malraux, Mrs. Kennedy, Vice President Johnson. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of ArtJanuary 8, 1963 Half a million people visited the National Art Gallery in D.C. to view the Mona Lisa over the next three weeks. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
American cartoonist Peter Arno who illustrated over 100 covers for The New Yorker Magazine was born on January 8, 1904 in New York CityImage: Peter Arno seated at a table illustrating a cartoon. The cartoon shows an artist working at a table with the caption “Who’s afraid of the big bad artist?” from Los Angeles Times via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Birthplace of Elvis Presley in Tupelo, Mississippi He was born on January 8, 1935Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
January 8, 1931 The former wife of Charlie Chaplin, Lita Grey, reported to police that her and her partner, French boxer Georges Carpentier, were kidnapped and robbed by bandits. Reportedly the thieves stole more than $13,000 in jewelry from Grey. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
“We have no jealousy of German greatness, and there is nothing in this program that impairs it. We grudge her no achievement or distinction of learning or of pacific enterprise such as have made her record very bright and very enviable. We do not wish to injure her or to block in any way her legitimate influence or power. We do not wish to fight her either with arms or with hostile arrangements of trade, if she is willing to associate herself with us and the other peace-loving nations of the world in covenants of justice and law and fair dealing. We wish her only to accept a place of equality among the peoples of the world–the new world in which we now live–instead of a place of mastery.” From Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points speech that he delivered to Congress on January 8, 1918. Lamentably, Germany would invade France and occupy that country a little more than 22 years later.
