This Day In History

On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It marked the first time the colonies gathered together to resist English oppression.

On September 4, 1882, Thomas Edison began providing electricity to a portion of New York City, an event often considered the start of the electrical age.

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.

On September 2, 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt used a phrase at the Minnesota State Fair that would become closely associated with his presidency: “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” The address, delivered less than two weeks before he entered the White House, outlined his belief that national power should support restrained but firm diplomacy.

On August 4, 1790, President George Washington passed a new Tariff Act that created the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the forerunner of the US Coast Guard. The Revenue Cutter Service was America’s only armed maritime service until the Navy was formed in 1798.

On July 7, 1942, the United States issued its first stamp with foreign characters as part of the design. The stamp honored China’s fight against Japan and used a small design detail to show a larger wartime friendship.

The father of American musical comedy, George Michael Cohan was born on July 3, 1878, in Providence, Rhode Island. He later became so closely associated with patriotic music that many Americans believed he had been born on the Fourth of July, a story Cohan himself enjoyed encouraging.

On June 25, 1876, Civil War veteran George A. Custer died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The battle became one of the most famous defeats in US Army history, but its deeper story was about land, broken promises, and Native nations fighting to protect their way of life.

Social worker Jane Addams was born on September 6, 1860, in Cedarville, Illinois. She was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and is often considered the founder of the profession of social work in America. 

On September 6, 1757, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, better known as the Marquis de Lafayette was born in Chavaniac, in Haute Loire, France to a wealthy family. He became known as the “Hero to two worlds” after joining in the American Revolution.

Claire Lee Chennault was born on September 6, 1890, in Commerce, Texas. He formed and led the Flying Tigers during World War II.

On September 6, 1916, the first self-service grocery store as we know it today opened in Memphis, Tennessee.  The store was Piggly Wiggly, and it revolutionized the way people bought groceries.