This Day In History

On August 1, 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation admitting Colorado to the Union as the Centennial State (it was admitted 28 days after the 100th anniversary of the United States).

John (Johan) Ericsson was born on July 31, 1803, in Värmland, Sweden. He was an inventor and ship designer, most famous for his ironclad ship Monitor, which participated in the Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads.

Although it had appeared on American coins for 92 years, “In God We Trust” didn’t become America’s official motto until July 30, 1956.

The mayor of West Berlin, Ernst Rudolph Johannes Reuter, was born on July 29, 1889, in Apenrade, German Empire. Refusing to bow to Soviet pressure during the Cold War, he unified the western sectors of Berlin and was integral to the Berlin Airlift.

The mayor of West Berlin, Ernst Rudolph Johannes Reuter, was born on July 29, 1889, in Apenrade, German Empire. Refusing to bow to Soviet pressure during the Cold War, he unified the western sectors of Berlin and was integral to the Berlin Airlift.

On July 28, 1935, Boeing’s Model 299, as it was called at the time, embarked on its first flight from a Seattle airfield. The plane would go on to be one of the most famous used during World War II.

Stephen Vincent Benét was born on July 22, 1898, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he’s best known for his historically inspired poems, short stories, and novels.

On July 5, 1950, US forces had their first fight of the Korean War at the Battle of Osan.

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the designer of the Statue of Liberty, was born on August 2, 1834, in Colmar, France.

Artist John French Sloan was born on August 2, 1871, in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. He was a renowned painter who helped found the Ashcan School and participated in the famed 1913 Armory Show.

On August 2, 1873, Clay Street Hill Railroad inaugurated San Francisco’s now-famous cable car system.

On August 2, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 into law. The act required all producers, laboratories, dealers, importers, and doctors to register each year to legally buy and sell marijuana.