This Day In History

On December 21, 1937, Walt Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world’s first full-length animated feature film, forever changing the landscape of cinema. What began as a daring experiment became a cultural phenomenon that launched Disney into global fame.

On December 20, 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the first volume of Children’s and Household Tales, a collection that would later become famous around the world as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. What began as a scholarly project to preserve German folklore soon grew into one of the most influential books in literary history.

On December 19, 1843, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, a small book that would become one of the most famous holiday stories ever written. Released just days before Christmas, the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghostly visitors captured the spirit of the season—and the conscience of Victorian England. Though Dickens was already a well-known author, few could have predicted that this short Christmas book would become his most enduring work, shaping how Christmas itself is celebrated and remembered.

On December 18, 1918, war-torn and recently independent Latvia issued its first stamps, printed on the back of German military maps.

On December 18, 1918, war-torn and recently independent Latvia issued its first stamps, printed on the back of German military maps.

On December 1, 1921, the US Post Office Department opened its Philatelic Agency in Washington, DC, to the benefit of stamp collectors. It became a valuable resource for stamp information and fulfilled requests for stamps – and was sometimes the only place to get certain issues!

In the midst of World War I, a major change quietly began in the United States Postal Service: for the first time, women were seriously tested as city letter carriers. On November 23, 1917, First Assistant Postmaster General John C. Koons issued a call to the postmasters of eight of the largest US post offices to run 15-day trials of women serving as letter carriers in the city.  This experiment was described as a potential wartime necessity, because many men were off fighting, and extra postal workers were already needed to handle the heavy Christmas mail in December.

On October 27, 1948, the US Post Office issued a stamp honoring the 50th anniversary of the Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.

On December 22, 1696, James Oglethorpe was born in Surrey, England. He settled the Georgia Colony in 1733 and served as its leader for a decade.

On December 22, 1941, US and British leaders met at the White House for the first time to discuss military strategy for World War II. The Arcadia Conference, as it was known, established Allied goals for the war and laid the groundwork for the United Nations.

On December 22, 1971, Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders was founded. The international humanitarian non-governmental organization provides medical aid in times of crisis around the world.

First Lady Lady Bird Johnson was born on December 22, 1912, in Karnack, Texas.