This Day In History

On August 21, 1770, James Cook landed on the eastern coast of Australia and named the land New South Wales.

On August 20, 2005, the USPS issued the first stamps in a nostalgic series honoring classic American cars. Over the next 17 years, America on the Move would celebrate four distinct groups of vehicles, from sleek 1950s sports cars to the pony cars that became symbols of youthful performance.

Ogden Nash was born on August 19, 1902, in Rye, New York.  Having written over 500 poems during his life, Nash is considered America’s best-known humorous poet.  

On August 18, 1587, Virginia Dare was born on Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, becoming the first English child known to have been born in North America. Just three years later, her grandfather returned to find Virginia, her parents, and the other colonists gone, creating the mystery now known as the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

On August 20, 2005, the USPS issued the first stamps in a nostalgic series honoring classic American cars. Over the next 17 years, America on the Move would celebrate four distinct groups of vehicles, from sleek 1950s sports cars to the pony cars that became symbols of youthful performance.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, Cape Province, South Africa. His long struggle against apartheid would carry him from prison to the presidency and make him a worldwide symbol of reconciliation and democratic change.

On June 25, 1876, Civil War veteran George A. Custer died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The battle became one of the most famous defeats in US Army history, but its deeper story was about land, broken promises, and Native nations fighting to protect their way of life.

On June 23, 2004, the USPS issued the first stamps in its Art of Disney Series. The USPS worked with Disney artists to create this whimsical series of stamps, with each year featuring a different theme.

Touring New England on August 22, 1902, Theodore Roosevelt became the first sitting president to publicly ride in an electric automobile accompanied by security. This was the first modern presidential motorcade.

Samuel Pierpont Langley was born on August 22, 1834, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. An aviation pioneer, he invented steam-powered aerodromes, which set flight records and inspired further advances in the field.

On August 22, 1864, twelve nations signed the first Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. This convention and subsequent treaties and protocols established the legal standard for humanitarian treatment in times of war.

Poet and writer Dorothy Parker (born Dorothy Rothschild) was born on August 22, 1893, in Long Branch, New Jersey.  A founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, she was known for her sharp wit.