Sunday, August 18, 2013

This Week in American History 19 August- 25 August

Week of 19 August-25 August



 18 August 1795: George Washington signs Jay Treaty with Britain

This treaty, known officially as the "Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty; and The United States of America" attempted to diffuse the tensions between England and the United States that had risen to renewed heights since the end of the Revolutionary War.  

 

  

 

19 August 1946: President Bill Clinton was born

 William Jefferson Blythe III is born in Hope, Arkansas. His father died in a car accident before he was born, and young Bill later took the last name of his stepfather, Roger Clinton. In 1992, Bill Clinton would be elected as the 42nd president of the United States.  

 

 

 

 

20 August 1933: President Benjamin Harrison was born

President Benjamin Harrison is born in North Bend, Ohio. Politics had long been the Harrison family business. At the time of his birth, Harrison's father was serving Ohio in the United States House of Representatives, while his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was serving as a senator from Indiana and only eight years away from becoming America's ninth president. His great-grandfather and namesake, Benjamin Harrison, had served as governor of colonial Virginia and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

 

 

 21 August 1959: President Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill making Hawaii the 50th state. President Eisenhower entered the White House in 1953 in charge of 48 states. By the time he left office in 1961, two more (Alaska and Hawaii) were added.

 

 

 

24 August 1814: British troops set fire to the White House

During the War of 1812 between the United States and England, British troops entered Washington, D.C. and burned the White House in retaliation for the American attack on the city of York in Ontario, Canada in June 1812.

When the British arrived at the White House, they found that President James Madison and his first lady Dolley had already fled to safety in Maryland. Soldiers reportedly sat down to eat a meal made of leftover food from the White House scullery using White House dishes and silver before ransacking the presidential mansion and setting it ablaze.


25 August 1950: Truman orders the army to seize control of the railroads

In anticipation of a crippling strike by railroad workers, President Harry S. Truman issues an executive order putting America's railroads under the control of the U.S. Army, as of August 27, at 4:00 pm. The railroad strike lasted for 21 months. Finally, in May 1952, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the Order of Railway Conductors and another union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engine men, accepted the Truman administration's terms and went back to work.
 


 

 

 

 

 

Monday, August 12, 2013

This Week in American History 12 August- 18 August


Week of 12 August- 18 August
13 August 1961: Construction Begins on the Berlin Wall



In 1961, East Germany starts building a wall that would cut the city in half, cut off West Berlin from the rest of East Germany, and serve as the enduring symbol of the Cold War.





14 August 1935: President Roosevelt Signs the Social Security Act


In 1935, Franklin Roosevelt signs the act into law, creating the Social Security system in the United States.





15 August 1914: Panama Canal Opens


In 1914, the Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans for shipping, and sends a signal of America's global power.




17 August 1896: The Klondike Gold Rush


In 1896, gold is discovered in Alaska's Bonanza Creek, triggering the Klondike Gold Rush.

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