Presidents

On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered one of his most famous and stirring speeches, to generate support for the Apollo program.

On September 5, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt mediated the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War. It earned him a Nobel Prize and began a long-standing tree-giving tradition between the US and Japan.

On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act.  The act protected 9 million acres from development and created the National Wilderness Preservation System that consists of more than 111 million acres today.

Benjamin Harrison was born in North Bend, Ohio, on August 20, 1833. America’s 23rd president, he was also a Civil War veteran and lawyer.

On August 10, 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt used the power of the 1906 Antiquities Act to create Joshua Tree National Monument. Decades later, the trees received additional protection when the area was made into a national park.

On August 9, 1974, Gerald Ford was inaugurated president following Richard Nixon’s resignation. Ford was the first person to serve as both vice president and president without winning election to either office.

On June 27, 1950, President Harry Truman announced that America would send troops to aid South Korea. It marked the start of US involvement in a conflict that to date hasn’t formally ended because no peace treaty has been signed.

On June 23, 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Civil Aeronautics Act, creating the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The CAA was tasked with investigating accidents, recommending ways to prevent future accidents, and setting airline fares and routes. It eventually became the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

On June 20, 1782, the United States adopted the Great Seal. It had taken six years, three committees, and the work of 14 men.