Birth of Everett Dirksen
Statesman Everett McKinley Dirksen was born on January 4, 1896, in Pekin, Illinois. He later emerged as a central figure in shaping bipartisan legislation in the US Senate.
World War I
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Death of Former President Harry Truman
On December 26, 1972, America’s 33rd president, Harry S. Truman, died, closing the chapter on a leader who had guided the nation through the final days of World War II and the uncertain dawn of the Cold War. Plainspoken and decisive, Truman rose from humble beginnings to make some of the most consequential choices in US history—decisions that reshaped America’s role on the world stage and still spark debate today.
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Latvia’s First Stamps Printed on Maps!
On December 18, 1918, war-torn and recently independent Latvia issued its first stamps, printed on the back of German military maps.
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Birth of Alvin York
World War I hero Alvin Cullum York was born on December 13, 1887, in Pall Mall, Tennessee. One of America’s most decorated soldiers of World War I, York earned the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross, among others.
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US Tests Female Mail Carriers in Cities
In the midst of World War I, a major change quietly began in the United States Postal Service: for the first time, women were seriously tested as city letter carriers. On November 23, 1917, First Assistant Postmaster General John C. Koons issued a call to the postmasters of eight of the largest US post offices to run 15-day trials of women serving as letter carriers in the city. This experiment was described as a potential wartime necessity, because many men were off fighting, and extra postal workers were already needed to handle the heavy Christmas mail in December.
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Birth of Robert Goddard
Robert Hutchings Goddard, often called the “Father of Modern Rocketry,” was born on October 5, 1882, in Worcester, Massachusetts. From an early age, Goddard showed a restless curiosity about the world around him, asking questions and performing experiments that hinted at the groundbreaking discoveries he would one day make.
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Death of Irving Berlin
On September 22, 1989, legendary composer Irving Berlin died in New York City at the age of 101. A year earlier, he was just the second living person to be honored on a US stamp!
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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.
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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.
