On July 5, 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 into law. The basis of modern US labor law, it guarantees private sector employees the right to organize in trade unions, bargain collectively, and strike.
On July 4, 1987, the USPS issued the first in a series of stamps honoring America’s first 13 states. The series honored each state’s 200th anniversary of statehood as well as the bicentennial of the ratification of the Constitution.
On July 3, 1848, Governor Peter von Scholten abolished slavery in the Danish West Indies (now the US Virgin Islands). Though it would be several years before slavery was truly ended in the islands, this date is celebrated as Emancipation Day, an official holiday, in the US Virgin Islands.
On July 2, 1979, the USPS issued the $1 Rush stamp, which would lead to one of the most fascinating stamp controversies of the late 20th century.
On July 1, 1845, US Congress established uniform postal rates, giving rise to the creation of Postmaster Provisional stamps. These stamps produced for local mail, were precursors to America’s first postage stamps exactly two years later.
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on June 30, 1917, in New York City, New York. Horne was one of the great icons of the 20th century. She spent over 70 years in the entertainment industry as an actress and jazz singer and was also an acclaimed civil rights activist.
Esteemed statesman Henry Clay died on June 29, 1852, after nearly 50 years in politics. Nicknamed “The Great Compromiser,” he orchestrated several important government compromises in the years leading up to the Civil War.
Nurse Clara Louise Maass was born on June 28, 1876, in East Orange, New Jersey. Maass’s participation in the Army’s Yellow Fever Commission claimed her life, but also contributed to the discovery of a treatment for the dangerous disease.
On June 27, 1950, President Harry Truman announced that America would send troops to aid South Korea. It marked the start of US involvement in a conflict that to date hasn’t formally ended because no peace treaty has been signed.