This Day In History

On October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy learned that the Soviet Union was building nuclear missile sites in Cuba. The discovery began thirteen days of tense negotiations and military alert that brought the United States and the Soviet Union dangerously close to nuclear war.

On October 15, 1940, the Pitcairn Islands Post Office opened, issuing the colony’s first stamps. These stamps were very popular with collectors and eventually helped support most of the colony’s budget.

A gunshot struck Theodore Roosevelt in Milwaukee on October 14, 1912, as he campaigned for president. Bleeding and carrying a bullet in his chest, he insisted on delivering his speech—and spoke for about ninety minutes.

On October 13, 1953, the US Post Office issued a 3¢ stamp honoring the 25th anniversary of the Future Farmers of America. It was issued at the place the organization was founded – Kansas City, Missouri.

Shel Silverstein was born Sheldon Allan Silverstein on September 25, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois. Before he became known for children’s poetry, he had worked as a military cartoonist, a magazine illustrator, a playwright, a recording artist, and a songwriter.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He would become one of the best-known writers of the Jazz Age, recording its energy, wealth, restlessness, and disappointments in novels and short stories.

Marguerite Higgins Hall was born on September 3, 1920, in Hong Kong, China. A war correspondent for World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, she was the first woman awarded a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting.

Writer Francis Bret Harte was born on August 25, 1836, in Albany, New York. His stories of California mining camps later brought him national fame and gave eastern readers a vivid, if literary, picture of life in the American West.

On October 17, 1777, British General Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga – one of the major American victories of the American Revolution. Often considered the turning point of the war, it proved that American troops could battle a European army on their own terms and win.

Journalist George Polk was born on October 17, 1913, in Fort Worth, Texas. He served as a Navy pilot during World War II before losing his life reporting on the Greek Civil War in 1948.

On October 17, 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed legislation establishing the US Department of Education. The department creates policies, monitors federal funding, and ensures equal education for students.

On October 17, 1916, the US Post Office issued a 5¢ Washington stamp. The stamp had small changes from previous issues that went overlooked by collectors, so few were saved. Plus, this stamp spawned some famous errors…