This Day In History

On May 24, 1978, the USPS issued the first stamp in the Performing Arts Series, honoring Jimmie Rodgers. Issued from 1978 to 1991, the 12-stamp Performing Arts Series honored singers, composers, actors, comedians, dancers, and other entertainers whose careers spanned nearly a century of American stage, screen, and musical history.

On May 23, 1918, Katherine Stinson became the first woman hired by the post office to deliver airmail in the US. She had several other notable firsts and records in her short flying career.

Artist Mary Stevenson Cassatt was born on May 22, 1844, in Allegheny City (present-day Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania. She was called one of the three great ladies of Impressionism, and is credited with helping popularize the art style among American art collectors.

General John Leonard “Birdie” Hines was born on May 21, 1868, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. During World War I, Hines successively commanded a regiment, brigade, division, and corps in combat. He was the first person to do that since the Civil War.

On November 13, 1940, Walt Disney premiered Fantasia—a film unlike anything audiences had ever seen. Combining animation and classical music, Fantasia was a bold experiment in art, sound, and imagination. It pushed the boundaries of animation and transformed film into something that could be felt as much as seen.

On November 8, 1900, future novelist Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Decades later, she would capture the world’s imagination with her sweeping Civil War epic Gone With the Wind.

William Penn Adair Rogers was born on November 4, 1879, in Oologah, Cherokee Nation (present-day Oklahoma). A popular actor and humorist, he was called “Oklahoma’s Favorite Son” and “America’s Favorite Cowboy.”

James Francis Cagney was born on July 17, 1899, in New York City, New York. Best known for playing gangsters, he was also a talented dancer and had excellent comic timing.

On May 25, 1967, the Canada Centennial stamp was issued in Montreal – the first time a US stamp had a First Day ceremony in another country.

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech to Congress announcing his plan to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

Reverend Theodore Martin Hesburgh was born on May 25, 1917, in Syracuse, New York. He served as president Notre Dame University for 35 years, transforming it into one of the best colleges in America.

Author Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on May 25, 1803, in Boston, Massachusetts.  A leader of the Transcendentalist movement, he promoted individualism and was a major influence on generations of thinkers, writers, and poets.