On August 27, 1894, the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act became law and established the nation’s first federal income-tax exemption for charitable, religious, and educational organizations. Although much of the law proved short-lived, its basic distinction between commercial profits and nonprofit work became a lasting part of the federal tax system.
Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire and now the capital of North Macedonia. Decades later, the teacher-turned-missionary would build a religious order devoted to caring for people facing poverty, illness, abandonment, and death.
Writer Francis Bret Harte was born on August 25, 1836, in Albany, New York. His stories of California mining camps later brought him national fame and gave eastern readers a vivid, if literary, picture of life in the American West.
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (also known as “The Duke” and “The Big Kahuna”) was born on August 24, 1890, in Haleʻākala, Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii. Duke was a record-setting Olympic swimmer who helped popularize surfing outside of Hawaii.
On August 23, 1784, an American merchant ship unfurled the Stars and Stripes for the first time in China. The Chinese dubbed it the “Flower Flag,” and its passengers, “flower flag countrymen,” a name that endures today.
Daniel “Uncle Dan” Beard was born on June 21, 1850, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His childhood adventures along the rivers and woods of Kentucky later helped shape the activities and ideals of the Boy Scouts of America.
On January 21, 1915, a small meeting in Detroit, Michigan sparked a global movement built on service and friendship. What began on that winter day would grow into Kiwanis International, an organization dedicated to improving communities and helping children around the world.
The United Way traces its beginnings to October 16, 1887, when a priest, two ministers, and a rabbi met in Denver, Colorado, to find a better way to help their struggling community. That meeting led to the creation of an organized, citywide effort to coordinate charitable giving—a movement that would eventually grow into the United Way of America.
On September 29, 1899, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) was founded in Columbus, Ohio. It’s grown to become the largest organization for combat veterans in the United States.
On August 27, 1959, the third Pan-American Games officially opened in Chicago, Illinois. These were the first Pan-Am Games held in the United States.
On August 27, 1918, US and Mexican forces engaged in the Battle of Ambos Nogales, amid the tensions of the Mexican Revolution, World War I, and the Border War.
On August 27, 1859, Edwin Drake struck oil near Titusville, Pennsylvania, establishing America’s first commercially viable oil well.
America’s 36th President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, was born on August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, Texas. President Johnson promoted a “Great Society” and signed many initiatives into law aimed at civil rights, public broadcasting, health, education, the arts, and public services.
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