"Lemonade Lucy" Hayes
The press jokingly called her “Lemonade Lucy,” because no alcoholic beverages were served in the White House while she was First Lady. But Lucy Hayes, wife of the 19th President,…
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth could neither read nor write. But when this tall African-American woman strode on stage to speak out against slavery, she held everyone’s attention. She began almost every speech…
1865
“With malice toward none, with charity for all….let us strive….to bind up the nation’s wounds.” Abraham Lincoln spoke these words on March 4, 1865, as he was sworn in for…
Millard Fillmore
2 Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore is considered one of the least successful Presidents. But his administration had two important accomplishments: the Compromise of 1850 and the opening of Japan. Born…
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony Until the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became law in 1920, American women were not allowed to vote. Susan B. Anthony’s 50-year fight for women’s suffrage,…
John Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell was one of the most daring explorers of the American West. In 1869, he personally financed and launched a bold expedition to study the…
Samuel Langley's Aerodrome
Samuel Langley’s Aerodrome On May 6, 1896, spectators lined the banks of Washington’s Potomac River to watch the grand experiment. Using a catapult on top of a houseboat, Samuel Langley…
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’” That line from Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Raven” is one of the most famous in American poetry. Poe is also well known for…
1849
1849 In 1849, Zachary Taylor began his term as President of the United States. Elizabeth Blackwell became America’s first woman doctor. Stagecoach service began between independence, Missouri, and Santa Fe…
The Donner Party
y In July, 1846, a group of 87 westward-bound pioneers made a bold decision. They would take a new shortcut to California instead of using the Oregon Trail. Named for…