Birth of Emily Dickinson
Poet Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Famous Americans
Washington & Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Celebrations
On November 26, 1789, the nation celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time under a presidential proclamation. Decades later, President Lincoln issued a similar proclamation that made the holiday permanent.
“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”
On November 18, 1865, Mark Twain published an early version of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” in The New York Saturday Press, bringing him his first significant fame.
Birth of Eugene O’Neill
American playwright Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born on October 16, 1888, in New York City, New York.
Birth of Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, Essex, England.
Death of Sojourner Truth
Abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth died on November 26, 1883, in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Birth of Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Jefferson Wins Presidency
On February 17, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was elected president by the US House of Representatives following an electoral tie with Aaron Burr.
Black Heritage Series
On February 1, 1978, the USPS issued the first stamp in its now longest-running series, Black Heritage.