Happy Birthday Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman was born on May 23, 1883 in Denver, Colorado. Better known as Douglas Fairbanks, he was one of Hollywood’s top stars of the 1920s, known as “Everybody’s Hero.”
Famous Americans
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Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
On May 19, 1883, the first Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show opened in Omaha, Nebraska. The show ran under a few different names for 30 years.
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First Transatlantic Flight
On May 16, 1919, Albert Cushing Read departed Newfoundland, beginning the first transatlantic flight. On May 27, he touched down in Portugal, successfully crossing the Atlantic.
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Happy Birthday Ulysses S. Grant
Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. A hero of the Civil War, he served as America’s 18th president.
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First Stamp Issued in Presidential Series
On April 25, 1938, the first stamp in the Presidential Series (also known as the Prexies) was issued featuring George Washington. The popular series pictured every deceased US president up to that time, marking the the first postal appearances for 12 US presidents.
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Birth of Harold Lloyd
Film star Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. was born on April 20, 1893, in Burchard, Nebraska. Best known as a silent film star, he appeared in nearly 200 films, most notably Safety Last.
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America’s Oldest School for the Deaf
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the first permanent school for the deaf in America on April 15, 1817. To date, over 4,000 students have graduated from the American School for the Deaf.
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Emancipation Memorial
On April 14, 1876, the Emancipation Memorial (also known as the Freedmen’s Memorial Monument) was unveiled in a special ceremony in Washington, DC. Most of the funds raised for the statue came from freed slaves and African American Union veterans.
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Birth of Matthew C. Perry
The “Father of the Steam Navy” Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry was born on April 10, 1794, in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Perry is best known for modernizing the US Naval Academy and opening friendly relations with Japan.
