This Day In History

Norman Rockwell died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on November 8, 1978. His career included decades of Boy Scout illustrations, hundreds of Saturday Evening Post covers, and the Four Freedoms paintings.

On November 7, 1921, President Warren G. Harding ordered 2,200 Marines to guard the mail in the wake of a series of daring mail robberies.

On November 6, 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America. By then, Southern states had seceded, formed the Confederacy, and the Civil War was underway.

On November 5, 1911, Leonard Franklin Slye was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. The boy who learned to yodel from old recordings would grow up to become Roy Rogers, the “King of the Cowboys,” and one of Hollywood’s best-known singing stars.

Born on October 24, 1911, Saunders Terrell became Sonny Terry, a blues harmonica player known for making his instrument sound like trains, hounds, and other voices. After childhood accidents left him blind, he built a career that took him from local churches and dance halls to Carnegie Hall and concert stages around the world.

On August 30, 1967, the US Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first African American justice of the Supreme Court. His appointment followed three decades in which he used the law to challenge racial segregation and expand constitutional rights.

Civil rights leader Whitney Moore Young Jr. was born on July 31, 1921, in Shelby County, Kentucky. He served as Executive Director of the National Urban League, helped organize the March on Washington, and advised several presidents.

On April 27, 1945, a boy named Frederick August Kittel Jr. was born in a two-room apartment in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. No one in that neighborhood could have guessed he would one day have a Broadway theater named after him. He would grow up to become August Wilson, one of the most celebrated playwrights in American history.

On November 9, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made history when he visited the Panama Canal Zone—becoming the first sitting US president ever to travel outside the country while in office. His trip symbolized not only his hands-on leadership style but also America’s growing role as a global power in the early 20th century.

On November 9, 1964, the US Post Office issued its first se-tenant, which was also America’s third Christmas issue. Today, the USPS issues at least one se-tenant every year.

On November 9, 1998, the USPS issued an H-rate Uncle Sam’s Hat stamp to satisfy the First-Class Rate. An unissued Uncle Sam’s Hat stamp with a yellow background was later discovered in used condition, despite never being officially issued!

On November 9, 1918, Moina Michael penned her poem, “We Shall Keep the Faith,” and resolved to wear a red poppy every day in remembrance of the fallen.  She became known as the “Poppy Lady.”