“…I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no security for a consistent and stable, more than for a faithful, exercise of its powers. If the meaning of the text be sought in the changeable meaning of the words composing it, it is evident that the shape and attributes of the government must partake of the changes to which the words and phrases of all living languages are constantly subject. What a metamorphosis would be produced in the code of law if all its ancient phraseology were to be taken in its modern sense! And that the language of our Constitution is already undergoing interpretations unknown to its founders will, I believe, appear to all unbiased inquirers into the history of its origin and adoption. Not to look farther for an example, take the word “consolidate,” in the Address of the convention prefixed to the Constitution. It there and then meant to give strength and solidity to the union of the States…”

From a letter from James Madison dated June 25, 1824.

Image of James Madison at the age of eighty-two c. 1833 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Henry “Hap” Arnold was the only person to hold the rank of five-star General in both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force.

He was born on June 25, 1886 in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.

Image: Henry H. Arnold at the Wright Flying School, Dayton, OH in 1911 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Gathering at the Little Bighorn: Native leaders mark the 10th anniversary of the battle, June 25, 1886, at the site where history and memory converged. A decade earlier, in June 1876, Lt. Col. George A. Custer led over 200 men of the U.S. 7th Cavalry into battle against a large force of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors. The confrontation ended in a devastating defeat for Custer’s command. Custer himself was killed along with every soldier under his immediate leadership. The battle shocked the nation and became one of the most infamous engagements of the Indian Wars.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Tahquitz Peak, June 25, 1932

Tahquitz Peak in Southern California has a very steep incline (8,846 elevation). It was named by the Luiseño people after an evil spirit who makes his home in the San Jacinto Mountains.

Image by Louis Fleckenstein via J. Paul Getty Museum, no known restrictions

Soldiers at Centreville, VA with small stone church (used as a Union surgical hospital) in the background c. 1861

73 years earlier on June 25, 1788 Virginia was admitted to the Union.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

“Steamer, off Hilton Head, June 25.

I wrote Father yesterday, that we were to return here. We sailed this morning at six, having been
up all night loading the ship. It is supposed that Gillmore is going to make an attack on Morris Island and Fort Sumter.

from Folly Island

R.G.S.”

Weeks later on July 18, 1863 Robert Gould Shaw and his 54th Massachusetts Infantry made their assault on Fort Wagner.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

“A mine, at the head of Logan’s approach to the Third Louisiana Redan, was begun on June 23, finished the forenoon of June 25, and charged with 2,200 pounds of powder. Leggett’s (1st) Brigade of Logan’s (3d) Division, 17th Corps, occupied the trenches, under orders to assault. The mine was fired about 3.30 p.m., and, before the smoke had cleared away, the 45th Illinois, at the head of the column, occupied the crater made by the explosion and opened fire on the Confederates behind the parapet across the gorge of the redan. The 20th Illinois relieved the 45th and was relieved by the 31st Illinois, the 56th Illinois relieved the 31st and was relieved by the 23d Indiana, the 17th Iowa relieved the 23d Indiana and was relieved by the 31st Illinois at 2:00 a.m. of the 26th, the 45th Illinois relieved the 31st at daylight, and was relieved by the 124th Illinois at 10.00 a.m.; that regiment held the position until 5.00 p.m., when fighting ceased in the crater. Hand grenades were freely used on both sides. Shells with lighted fuses, used as grenades by the Confederates, were, in some instances, thrown back before they exploded.”

From: Siege and defence of Vicksburg and the Vicksburg National Military Park published in 1909 https://archive.org/details/siegedefenceofvi00illi/page/17/mode/1up
Source says not in copyright

Image: Siege of Vicksburg. Fight in the crater made by explosion of a mine under a portion of the rebel works 25 June 1863 via LOC, no known restrictions

On June 25, 1913, Civil War veterans began arriving in Gettysburg, PA. for the “Great Reunion” marking the 50th anniversary of the battle. The event officially lasted from June 29 – July 4 and over 50,000 old soldiers attended. Here former enemies shake hands over a stone wall on Cemetery Ridge.

Image via Wikipedia Commons, public domain in the US

On June 25, 1958, the United States Air Force named nine men to serve as astronauts for their Man In Space Soonest (MISS) program.

Of the nine men selected, only Joseph A. Walker (in an X-15 plane) and Neil Armstrong made it to space.

By early August of that year the program was discontinued and was eventually replaced by NASA’s Project Mercury.

Image of Neil Armstrong in 1958 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

The USS Valley Forge was on a regular deployment to the Western Pacific beginning May 1, 1950, and was visiting Hong Kong, when the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950.

A little over a week later the first carrier air strike of the Korean War was launched from the deck of the USS Valley Forge.

Image c. 1950 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

American actress Anne Revere, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the 1944 film National Velvet, was a direct descendant of Paul Revere.

She was born on June 25, 1903
in New York City.

Image of Jason Robards Jr. and Anne Revere in the stage production Toys in the Attic c. 1960 via NYPL Digital Collections, no known restrictions

Georgia Hale and Charlie Chaplin in the silent film The Gold Rush in 1925

Georgia Hale was born on June 25, 1900 in St. Joseph, Missouri

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On June 25, 1970, Hall & Oates are believed to have recorded together for the first time under the name Whole Oats, quietly launching a collaboration that would eventually define blue-eyed soul and ’80s pop. Rooted in the rich musical melting pot of Philadelphia, their early sound blended folk-rock with soul influences, setting the stage for their genre-blurring success in the decades to come.

Image: Daryl Hall and John Oates in a 1976 publicity photo for their album Bigger Than Both of Us. via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

June 25, 1921: Contestants and spectators gather at Washington’s Bathing Beach for a summer costume contest, showcasing the seaside style and spirited leisure of the Roaring Twenties.

Image via LOC, no known restrictions

Born June 25, 1874 pioneering cartoonist Rose O’ Neill was at one time the highest-paid female illustrator in the world. Inspired by Cupid, her 1909 comic strip introduced Kewpies, which she described as “a little, round fairy whose one idea is to teach people to be merry and kind.” The popular Kewpie doll soon followed.

Image by Gertrude Käsebier from LOC via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.