Birth of Coles Phillips
Clarence Coles Phillips was born on October 3, 1880, in Springfield, Ohio. Considered one of the leaders of the Golden Age of Illustration, he’s most well-known for his “fadeaway” girls, as pictured on his 2001 stamp.
Art
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Death of Artist Winslow Homer
On September 29, 1910, Winslow Homer died at Prouts Neck, Maine, after a career that helped define American art. He began as a magazine illustrator, but his paintings and watercolors came to portray war, work, childhood, and the sea with unusual clarity and force.
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Birth of Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo was born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson on September 18, 1905, in Stockholm, Sweden. Rising from a poor working-class neighborhood to become one of Hollywood’s most private and magnetic stars, she made only 28 films before leaving the screen at age 36.
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The Origins of “Uncle Sam”
On September 7, 1813, a newspaper referred to the United States as “Uncle Sam.” The name reportedly came from Troy, New York’s Uncle Sam Wilson, and has since become one of America’s most enduring national symbols.
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Birth of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, later known as Sir Alfred Hitchcock, was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, Essex, England. Over the next eight decades, the son of a London greengrocer became the “Master of Suspense,” directing films such as Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, and The Birds.
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Death of Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock died on August 11, 1956, in Springs, New York, at age 44, after a career that had made his unconventional painting methods famous far beyond the art world. In less than two decades, he moved from Depression-era government art projects to the center of the emerging Abstract Expressionist movement.
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Birth of Andrew Wyeth
Artist Andrew Wyeth was born on July 12, 1917, in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. By studying weathered farms, quiet rooms, and familiar neighbors, he found mystery and emotion in places others might overlook.
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Birth of Peter Paul Rubens
Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens was born on June 28, 1577, in Siegen, Nassau-Dillenburg, in the Holy Roman Empire. He would become one of Europe’s most sought-after painters, known not only for dramatic Baroque art, but also for work as a trusted diplomat.
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The Battle of Little Bighorn
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.
