This Day In History

On March 11, 1977, the United States Postal Service issued its first se-tenant stamps in booklet form. Released at New York City’s INTERPEX stamp show, the unusual booklet combined two postal rates in a single pane and introduced the first multicolor US booklet stamp.

On March 10, 1862, the United States government issued its first widely circulated national paper money. These new notes, soon nicknamed “greenbacks,” were created during the financial strain of the American Civil War and transformed how the federal government financed itself.

On March 9, 1841, the US Supreme Court issued its final ruling in the case of United States v. Schooner Amistad. The decision ended a two-year legal battle over whether a group of kidnapped Africans were property—or free people who had fought for their liberty.

William Howard Taft died on March 8, 1930, after nearly fifty years in public service. His passing marked the end of a career that uniquely bridged the presidency and the nation’s highest court.

On March 7, 1903, Maud Lewis was born in South Ohio, Nova Scotia. Few could have guessed that this child, who would face lifelong physical pain and poverty, would become one of Canada’s most recognized folk artists.

On February 23, 1942, millions of Americans were gathered around their radios listening to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chat. At almost the same moment — 7:15 p.m. Pacific time — a Japanese submarine surfaced one mile off the California coast and began shelling an oil field near Santa Barbara. The war had just arrived on the American mainland.

On January 31, 1835, William Charles Lunalilo was born in Honolulu, a future ruler whose path to the throne would be decided by the people…

On January 25, 1924, the first-ever Winter Olympic Games opened in Chamonix, France, bringing together athletes from across the globe to compete on snow and ice. These historic games laid the foundation for a new Olympic tradition, showcasing winter sports in a way never done before.

On March 12, 1888, a short-lived blizzard mail service delivered letters to New York City during one of the worst storms in history.

On March 12, 1912, Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low held the first meeting of the Girl Guides, the forerunner of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.

On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman introduced his Truman Doctrine, a foreign policy aimed at reducing Soviet expansion during the Cold War.

Newspaper publisher Adolph Simon Ochs was born on March 12, 1858, in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Ochs had a reputation for running high-quality, trustworthy newspapers and coined the phrase, “All the News That’s Fit to Print.”