This Day In History

On May 31, 1864, forces assembled in Virginia for the bloody Battle of Cold Harbor. The clash became one of the final major battles of Grant’s Overland Campaign against Robert E. Lee.

Bandleader Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois. Also a renowned clarinetist, he’s considered the “King of Swing.”

On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island became the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the US Constitution. The vote was close, but it brought the smallest state into the new nation as the 13th state.

On May 28, 1892, John Muir and a small group of California conservationists founded the Sierra Club in San Francisco. Their goal was practical as well as poetic: bring people into the mountains, then organize them to protect the wild places they had come to love.

On May 11, 1858, Minnesota entered the Union as the 32nd state. Known today as the “North Star State,” Minnesota grew from fur-trade outposts, river forts, farms, forests, and iron mines into one of the Upper Midwest’s most diverse economies.

On March 15, 1820, Maine became the 23rd state in the United States. The decision ended nearly two centuries of rule by Massachusetts and recognized the growing population and independence of the northern district.

On March 6, 1820, President James Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise into law. The measure aimed to calm rising tensions over slavery, but it also revealed how deeply divided the nation had already become.

On March 4, 1791, Vermont was admitted to the Union. After years of land disputes, frontier battles, and even a period as an independent republic, the small mountain region officially became the 14th state of the United States.

On June 1, 1995, the USPS issued the first stamp in its long-running Legends of Hollywood Series. The stamp, honoring Marilyn Monroe, was the best-selling stamp of the year.

On June 1, 1990, the USPS issued the first stamp in the Flora and Fauna Series, which was born from plans for a Priority Mail stamp in 1987.

On June 1, 1861, the Confederate States of America took control of their own postal operations. With several months before official postage stamps would be ready, some cities produced their own postmaster’s provisional stamps to keep mail moving during this time.

On June 1, 1909, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opened in Seattle, Washington.  The Expo honored the purchase of Alaska, the Klondike Gold Rush, and trade in the Pacific.