First Female Cabinet Member
On February 28, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins as head of the Department of Labor, making her the first woman to serve on a presidential cabinet.
Government
Birth of Albert Gallatin
Politician and diplomat Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was born on January 29, 1761, in Geneva, Switzerland. Gallatin’s aristocratic family included physicians, statesmen, and soldiers – one of his relatives commanded a battalion at the Battle of Yorktown.
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.
Happy Birthday, President Garfield
The last of the “log cabin presidents,” James A. Garfield was born November 19, 1831, near Cleveland, Ohio, to impoverished farmers.
The Moscow-Washington Hotline
On August 30, 1963, the first message was sent on the Moscow-Washington hotline.
Passage of the Presidential Libraries Act
On August 12, 1955, the Presidential Libraries Act was passed, providing for the organized transfer of presidential papers and other items to the federal government.
Birth of Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa.
The Peace Bridge Dedicated
On August 7, 1927, the Peace Bridge linking the US and Canada was dedicated by representatives from both nations and the United Kingdom.
Birth of Calvin Coolidge
Future President John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born on Independence Day, July 4, 1872. He spent his early years in the New England town of Plymouth Notch, Vermont.