On July 19, 1848, the Women’s Rights Convention, also known as the Seneca Falls Convention, opened in New York. The convention’s attendants issued a declaration calling for equal rights, including the right to vote.
American diplomat Hiram Bingham IV was born on July 17, 1903, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Over a short period during World War II, he helped more than 2,500 refugees escape France.
The United States passed the Northwest Ordinance on July 13, 1787 to establish a set of steps all future states would have to follow. It was ground breaking at the time and led to the organized and rapid expansion of America.
On July 2, 1862, the Morrill Act was signed into law, promoting a new direction for American education. The act encouraged the creation of land-grant colleges that offered study in agriculture, science, and engineering.
On June 29, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park, the first American park created to “preserve the works of man.” It’s since been called “the best cultural attraction” in the Western United States.
On June 26, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Firearms Act of 1934 into law. The act placed a tax on the manufacture and transfer of certain firearms, with new stamps being produced to show the tax had been paid.
On June 19, 1910, one of the first Father’s Day celebrations was held at the YMCA in Spokane, Washington. It would be another 62 years before it was made a permanent national holiday.
James Weldon Johnson was born on June 17, 1871, in Jacksonville, Florida. A poet, songwriter, diplomat, and activist, he was the first African American executive secretary of the NAACP.
George Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts. As America’s 41st president, he led the US through conflicts in Panama and Iraq, helped bring about the end of the Soviet Union, and negotiated treaties to reduce the number of global nuclear weapons. At home, Bush fought against rising drug use and cracked down on the drug trade.