HISTORY

What an odd thing to ALLEGEDLY say

Obviously the JBL was packed. #lewisandclark

Fifteen years ago, on November 4, Amanda Knox, a 22-year-old American exchange student, was wrongfully convicted of murdering her roommate in Perugia, Italy.

At 11:38 am EST on #ThisDayInHistory in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Seventy-three seconds later, the shuttle broke up into fire and smoke. All seven astronauts on board the Challenger were killed: Christa McAuliffe (a New Hampshire teacher chosen for NASA’s 1985 Teacher in Space project), Dick Scobee, Ellison Onizuka (first Asian American astronaut and first astronaut of Japanese descent), Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik, Michael J. Smith, and Ronald McNair (in 1984, he became the second African American to travel to space). An investigation later determined that the disaster was caused by the temperature-related failure of an “O-ring” seal in one of Challenger’s two solid-fuel rockets. To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

To learn more about what President Roosevelt called “the date which will live in infamy," visit the link in our bio. #PearlHarbor

Four Black college students sparked a sit-in movement across the South by refusing to leave a “whites-only” lunch counter on #ThisDayInHistory in 1960. The students – Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond – became known as the “Greensboro Four.” #greensborositin

Thank you, thank you very much for your service Mr. Presley. #elvis

a royal moment in history. #royalhistory #princessdiana

The movement for the prohibition of alcohol in the United States began in the early 19th century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects of drinking began forming temperance societies. By the end of the 19th century, these groups had become powerful political forces and on #ThisDayInHistory in 1920 at midnight, Prohibition went into effect.

Thomas Watson finally answered on March 10, 1876.

It seemed like the perfect crime—until it wasn’t.

Today would have been Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 96th birthday. #MLKDay #MLK

80 years ago, on #ThisDayInHistory, Soviet troops entered Auschwitz, freeing the survivors of the concentration camp complex and revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there. To learn more, visit the link in our bio. #holocaustremembranceday

To learn more about the #bostonmolassesflood visit the link in our bio.

New York City’s Central Park can feel like an untouched slice of nature in the heart of Manhattan, but every square foot was carefully planned and constructed. And the land it sits on was chosen precisely because it was once some of the least attractive land in the city—rocky, boggy, and home to tanneries and bone-boiling plants. To learn more, visit the link in our bio.

In Memoriam: President James Earl Carter Jr. 1924–2024

On Christmas Eve 1914, during World War I, German and British soldiers in the trenches of the Western Front spontaneously halted their fighting and began singing carols in what would come to be called The Christmas Truce. The soldiers met in “No Man’s Land” to shake hands, trade tobacco and wine and even join in an impromptu soccer match. To learn more about the #ChristmasTruce, visit the link in our bio. #moretohistory

This wasn't just any duel... #TheUnbelievable

Former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, passed away at the age of 100. Carter was the longest living president in U.S. history. James Earl Carter, Jr. was born into a farming family in Plains, Georgia, in 1924. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946, served on submarines and rose to the rank of lieutenant. He served in the Georgia Senate and as Georgia’s governor before being elected to the U.S. presidency in 1977. Among his achievements during his one term as president was his successful mediation of the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. He faced his biggest crisis in 1979 when Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took over 50 Americans hostage. After his presidency, he worked extensively with Habitat for Humanity and founded the Carter Center, together with his wife Rosalynn, to promote peace and human rights and alleviate suffering across the globe. He was the author or co-author of more than 30 books. In 2002 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

Today is Dick Van Dyke’s 99th birthday! Dick Van Dyke, the quintessential “nice guy” actor, first made a name for himself on Broadway, before starring in the eponymous Dick Van Dyke Show and a string of popular films, including Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the 1960s.