This Day In History

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.

More than 70 years after the Titanic sank, a joint American-French expedition located its wreck on the North Atlantic floor on September 1, 1985. The discovery ended decades of failed searches and revealed that the ship still rested nearly 12,500 feet below the surface.

On August 31, 1997, the world was shocked when Princess Diana was involved in a car crash that took her life.

On August 30, 1967, the US Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first African American justice of the Supreme Court. His appointment followed three decades in which he used the law to challenge racial segregation and expand constitutional rights.

Writer Francis Bret Harte was born on August 25, 1836, in Albany, New York. His stories of California mining camps later brought him national fame and gave eastern readers a vivid, if literary, picture of life in the American West.

On August 22, 1970, the US Post Office issued the first stamp in the American Poet Series. The series honored seven prolific American poets.

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.  

American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, while on a trip with former president Franklin Pierce to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

After more than eight years of fighting, the American Revolutionary War came to an end on September 3, 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

On September 3, 1943, the Allies launched their invasion of Italy during World War II. Part of Operation Husky, it ultimately led to the liberation of Rome in June 1944.

On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act.  The act protected 9 million acres from development and created the National Wilderness Preservation System that consists of more than 111 million acres today.

On September 3, 1991, the USPS issued the first of five souvenir sheets (later classified as commemorative sheets) honoring the 50th anniversary of America’s entrance into World War II.