First Women Enlist in the Marines
On August 13, 1918, Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the US Marine Corps Reserve. By war’s end, a total of 305 women had enrolled and served in the Marines.
World War I
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US Acquires Danish West Indies
Nearly 50 years after the first negotiations took place, the United States purchased the Danish West Indies from Denmark, later renaming them the US Virgin Islands. The US again entered into talks with the Danish and the treaty was signed on August 4, 1916.
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Birth of Ernst Reuter
The mayor of West Berlin, Ernst Rudolph Johannes Reuter, was born on July 29, 1889, in Apenrade, German Empire. Refusing to bow to Soviet pressure during the Cold War, he unified the western sectors of Berlin and was integral to the Berlin Airlift.
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Birth of Calvin Coolidge
Future President John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born on Independence Day, July 4, 1872. He would serve as America’s 30th president, taking the office upon the unexpected death of President Warren Harding.
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US Begins Issuing Stamps in the Philippines
On June 30, 1899, the American military government issued its first stamps in the Philippines. Spanish colonization of the Philippines began in 1565 and continued for more than three centuries. In the late 1800s, the people of the Philippines revolted against the atrocities of their Spanish rulers. At the same time, unrest was growing in the Spanish colony of Cuba.
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Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Bosnia Serb nationalist, sparking World War I.
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West Virginia Becomes 35th State
On June 20, 1863, West Virginia joined the Union as the 35th state. It had formed from the western counties of Virginia which disagreed with the state’s decision to secede during the Civil War.
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First Successful Single-Rotor Helicopter Flight
On May 24, 1940, Igor Sikorsky successfully flew the first single-rotor helicopter. Sikorsky developed the world’s first mass-produced helicopter and one of the first American helicopters used in World War II.
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Movie Stars Hit Streets to Sell War Bonds
On April 8, 1918, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks held a war bond drive on Wall Street to bolster support for the war effort.
