This Day In History

Explorer, soldier, and politician Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774, in Ivy, Albemarle County, Virginia. Best known for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, he went on to serve as governor of the Louisiana Territory.

On August 17, 1923, the US Post Office issued its fifth Airmail stamp, #C5. Picturing the Air Service emblem, it was also the first US…

On August 16, 1858, the first message was sent via the transatlantic cable. The message read, “Europe and America are united by telegraphy. Glory to God in the highest; on earth, peace and good will towards men.”

On August 15, 1824, Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, returned to the United States for the first time in nearly forty years. Now sixty-seven years old, Lafayette was the last surviving major general of the Revolutionary War.

On June 13, 2002, the USPS issued the final sheet in the Classic Collection Series. The popular series ran for 6 years and included 11 stamp sheets, including one of the most famous stamp errors of modern history.

On May 24, 1940, Igor Sikorsky successfully flew the first single-rotor helicopter. Sikorsky developed the world’s first mass-produced helicopter and one of the first American helicopters used in World War II.

On May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh began his famous flight across the Atlantic aboard the Spirit of St. Louis. Flying alone for 33 hours across 3,600 miles in stormy weather, he became an instant celebrity and American legend.

On May 15, 1918, America’s airmail service began when two Curtiss Jennys departed New York and Washington, DC. In the months that followed, pioneering aviators expanded airmail service over the treacherous Allegheny Mountains to Chicago and eventually the west coast.

On August 19, 1812, the USS Constitution dueled with the British HMS Guerriere and reigned victorious. During the fighting, one sailor noted that the British cannonballs simply bounced off the Constitution’s oak hull, proclaiming it was “made of iron.” This earned the ship its famous nickname – “Old Ironsides.”

Aviator and inventor Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871, in Dayton, Ohio. He and his brother would go on to become aviation pioneers.

US #523, the 1918 $2 orange-red Franklin error stamp, was first used on or around August 19, 1918. However, it would be two years before the error was discovered.

Ogden Nash was born on August 19, 1902, in Rye, New York.  Having written over 500 poems during his life, Nash is considered America’s best-known humorous poet.