Category: History

1900-1909 Crayola Crayons
1910-1919 Raggedy Ann Dolls
1920-1929 Madame Alexander Collectible Dolls
1930-1939 View-Master 3-D Viewer
1940-1949 Candy Land
1950-1959 Mr. Potato Head
1960-1969 G.I. Joe
1970-1979 Rubik’s Cube
1980-1989 Cabbage Patch Kids
1990-1999 Beanie Babies
2000-Present Razor Scooter

Here are the details from Forbes, including other notable toys of each decade. (Article is from 2005.)

The French colors were lowered and the American flag raised in New Orleans on this date in 1803, signifying the transfer of sovereignty of Louisiana from France to the United States. Arguably the transfer was one of the two or three most defining moments in American history.

As ultimately defined, Louisiana Territory included most of the U.S. west of the Mississippi River, east of the Rocky Mountains, except for Texas and New Mexico; that is, parts or all of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

Tom and Jill have provided a lot of new information about the Wright brothers after December 17, 1903. It’s made all the more interesting because they are not in agreement.

I added a little myself to help clarify the feud between Orville Wright and the Smithsonian. History can be so damn fascinating.

We saw the Smithsonian’s Wright exhibit just a few weeks ago. Below is a photo of one of the few remaining Wright bicycles, two shots of the Flyer (with Orville’s preserved body at the controls) and the label for the Flyer.

Click on any of the images for a gallery of larger versions of all three.

James Tobin’s To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight is the best account of the competition between the Wrights and Langley and Curtiss.

… just 144 years ago (1865) that the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Twenty-seven of the 36 states ratified the amendment between February 1st and December 6, 1865. Five more of the 36 ratified it by early 1866. Texas ratified the amendment in 1870, Delaware in 1901, Kentucky in 1976, and Mississippi in 1995.

[Raise your hand if you think we’d still have slavery in the U.S. if it weren’t for the Civil War.]

Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully made the first four sustained flights of a heavier-than-air machine under the control of the pilot at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, 106 years ago today.

This photograph of the first attempt (click to enlarge) “shows Orville Wright at the controls of the machine, lying prone on the lower wing with hips in the cradle which operated the wing-warping mechanism. Wilbur Wright running alongside to balance the machine, has just released his hold on the forward upright of the right wing.” (Source: Library of Congress)

As with riding a bicycle, the key was control.

While other aviators searched in vain for “inherent stability,” Orville and Wilbur created a method for the pilot to control the airplane. The real breakthrough was their ingenious invention of “wing-warping.” If the pilot wanted to bank a turn to the left, the wings could be warped to provide more lift on the wings on the right side of the biplane. The brothers worked out a system for 3-axis control that is still used today on fixed-wing aircraft: left and right like a car or boat (a rudder), up and down (the 1903 Wright “Flyer” had its elevator in the front), and banking a turn as birds do (or like leaning to one side while riding a bicycle). Working with kites in 1899, the brothers figured out and tested their systems for 3-axis control, and in the next two years did experiments with gliders at Kitty Hawk, and then with their wind tunnel, to find the proper lift. They found that the formula for lift – namely the “Smeaton coefficient” that everybody had been using for over 100 years – was wrong. By the time they built their 1902 glider, they had worked out all the problems and they knew it would fly. The 1902 glider was actually the first fully controlled heavier-than-air craft, and some historians believe it was the main invention – essentially the invention of the airplane – and more important than the 1903 biplane. So it was on March 23, 1903 – nine months before the famous first airplane flight of December 1903 – that Orville and Wilbur Wright filed a patent application for a “Flying Machine.” The patent was awarded May 22, 1906. That’s when the aviation world started to copy the Wright’s designs, and from that point remarkable progress was made in the development of powered flight.

. . .

On Monday, December 14, 1903, when both the Wright flyer and the wind were ready, the brothers decided that Wilbur would take the first turn as pilot for the historic flight. Some readers might suppose that this was because Wilbur was older, or because he had taken the early lead in the project (though later there was an equalization), or perhaps because of some difference in piloting skills. It was none of these. It was decided by flipping a coin.

. . .

Two days later, repairs had been completed, but the wind wasn’t right. The following day, Thursday, December 17, 1903, would be the historic day. They realized it would be better to lay the track on flat ground. That and the strong (22-27 m.p.h.) winds meant that Orville (whose turn it was to pilot) was riding the plane along the track, at a speed that allowed Wilbur to keep up easily, steadying the right wing as Orville had done 3 days earlier. Just after the Wright flyer lifted off the monorail, the famous picture was taken, possibly the most reproduced photograph ever, which Orville had set up (having asked one of the men simply to squeeze the shutter bulb after takeoff). The flight wasn’t much – 12 seconds, 120 feet. But it was the first controlled, sustained flight in a heavier-than-air craft, one of the great moments of the century.

The brothers flew 3 more times that day, covering more distance as they got used to the way the large front “rudder” (the elevator) responded in flight. Orville’s second flight was 200 feet, and Wilbur’s before it nearly as long. But the final flight of the day carried Wilbur 852 feet in 59 seconds.

Source: Wright brothers history: First Airplane Flight, 1903. There’s more.

It was on this date in 1773 that the Boston Tea Party took place. Fortunately for the future of America, the populace at that time was not encumbered with Christmas shopping or sports on TV and could pay attention to public affairs.

In 1770, the British Parliament ended the Townshend Duties — taxes on the sale of lead, glass, paper, paints and tea — ended them for all but tea. The tax on British tea and a boycott of it in many of the colonies continued.

Tea was a hot commodity in the colonies, however, and considerable foreign tea was smuggled into America to avoid the tax. Some four-fifths of the tea consumed in America was brought in by smugglers.

In 1773 Parliament, in an effort to both prevent the bankruptcy of the East India Company and raise tax revenue, reduced the tea tax but gave the company a monopoly in the American tea business. The price of tea would be lower than smugglers could match, Americans would buy East India tea, the company would revive, and the tax, though lower, would be paid on vastly more tea. Win-win.
Continue reading The Real Tea Party

… was ratified by Virginia on this date in 1791, and thereby became part of the Constitution of the United States as its first ten amendments.

Originally 12 amendments were proposed to the legislatures of the 14 states by the First Congress. Numbers three through twelve were ratified, beginning with New Jersey in November 1789, and culminating with Virginia, the eleventh (i.e., three-quarters of the states), on this date in 1791. (The amendments were ultimately ratified by the remaining three legislatures of Massachusetts, March 2, 1939; Georgia, March 18, 1939; and Connecticut, April 19, 1939.)

The draft first amendment concerned the numbers of constituents for each representative. It has never been ratified. The draft second amendment was ratified by the required number of states in 1992. It took effect as Amendment XXVII (”No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”)

The image is of the actual document with the 12 proposed amendments. Click image for larger version.

The Bill of Rights

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

On December 10, 1869, John Campbell, Governor of the Wyoming Territory, approved the first law in U.S. history explicitly granting women the right to vote. Commemorated in later years as Wyoming Day, the event was one of many firsts for women achieved in the Equality State.

On November 5, 1889, Wyoming voters approved the first constitution in the world granting full voting rights to women. Wyoming voters again made history in 1924 when they elected Nellie Taylor Ross as the first woman governor in the United States.

Library of Congress

Navy cable from 68 years ago this morning.

Click image above to enlarge.

“The First State,” ratified the Constitution on this date in 1787. Named for Thomas West, Lord De La Warre, colonial governor of Virginia, the modern state has just its original three counties. The state bird is the blue hen chicken and the state insect is the ladybug.

Photo is of the Delaware capitol, Legislative Hall, dedicated in 1933.

[NewMexiKen photo, 2002. Click to enlarge.]

James Bradley has taken a new look at an old story. His essay includes this from a letter written by President Theodore Roosevelt to his son:

I have of course concealed from everyone — literally everyone — the fact that I acted in the first place on Japan’s suggestion … . Remember that you are to let no one know that in this matter of the peace negotiations I have acted at the request of Japan and that each step has been taken with Japan’s foreknowledge, and not merely with her approval but with her expressed desire.

TR won the Nobel Peace Prize for that not so evenhandedness.

Take a look at Bradley’s article.

On December 6, 1884, workers placed the 3,300 pound marble capstone on the Washington Monument, and topped it with a nine-inch pyramid of cast aluminum, completing construction of the 555-foot Egyptian obelisk.

The Library of Congress has more. That’s their photo (click to view larger version). Looking at the photo, I’m wondering where was the photographer standing?

[The photo is not from the completion in 1884.]

Taken 46 years ago today. Click image to see larger version from The Smoking Gun.

Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864

Dear Madam, –I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln.

[As it turns out, this letter, made even more famous when read in the film Saving Private Ryan, may have been written by John Hay, Lincoln’s secretary. Further, only two of Mrs. Bixby’s five sons had died in battle. One was honorably discharged, one was dishonorably discharged, and another deserted or died in a prison camp. Not that losing three sons in whatever way isn’t horrible enough.]

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, the marquis d’ Arlandes, flew in a untethered hot air balloon over Paris for 20 minutes on this date in 1783. The balloon was made of silk and paper and was constructed by Jacques Étienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, who first took notice that smoke (i.e., hot air) would cause a bag to rise. The Montgolfiers experimented with paper bags before sending a balloon aloft with a sheep, a rooster and a duck (September 19, 1783). De Rozier went up in a tethered balloon on October 15.

But 226 years ago today, November 21, 1783, is — so far as we know — the date man first flew, untethered to the earth.

The winds have welcomed you with softness,
The sun has blessed you with his warm hands
You have flown so high and so free,
That God has joined you in laughter,
And set you gently again,
Into the loving arms of mother earth.

The Balloonists Prayer

On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act providing for enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified nine months earlier. Known as the Prohibition Amendment, it prohibited the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” in the United States.

The movement to prohibit alcohol began in the early years of the nineteenth century when individuals concerned about the adverse effects of drink began forming local societies to promote temperance in consumption of alcohol. The first temperance societies were organized in New York (1808) and Massachusetts (1813). Members, many of whom belonged to Protestant evangelical denominations, frequently met in local churches. As time passed, most temperance societies began to call for complete abstinence from all alcoholic beverages.

Source: Library of Congress

The 18th Amendment was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933. South Carolina voted in 1933 to reject the repeal amendment. North Carolina, Nebraska, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Georgia never ratified the repeal.

On this date in 1803, the United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase Treaty by a vote of twenty-four to seven.

France had lost control of Louisiana to Spain at the end of the French and Indian War (1763). In the Treaty of San Ildefonso (1800), Spain ceded the territory back to France (along with six warships) in exchange for the creation of a kingdom in north-central Italy for the Queen of Spain’s brother. Napoleon promised never to sell or alienate the property. His promise was good for about 10 months.

The First Consul of the French Republic desiring to give to the United States a strong proof of his friendship doth hereby cede to the United States in the name of the French Republic for ever and in full Sovereignty the said territory with all its rights and appurtenances as fully and in the Same manner as they have been acquired by the French Republic in virtue of the above mentioned Treaty concluded with his Catholic Majesty [Spain].

The purchase included 828,000 square miles — all or parts of the modern states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

With interest the total cost was $23.5 million, or about 4 cents an acre.

… the British army surrendered to the Americans and French at Yorktown, Virginia, in essence ending the War for American Independence.

The siege of Yorktown was conducted according to the book, with redoubts, trenches, horn-works, saps, mines, and countermines. Cornwallis had about 8000 men in the little town on the York river, which French ships patrolled so that he could not break away. The armies of Rochambeau and Saint~Simon were almost as numerous as his, and in addition Washington had 5645 regulars and 3200 Virginia militia. The commander in chief, profiting by D’Estaing’s error at Savannah, wasted no men in premature assaults. There were gallant sorties and counterattacks, one led by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton. Casualties were light on both sides, fewer than in the naval battle; but Cornwallis, a good professional soldier, knew when he was beaten. On 17 October he sent out a white flag, and on the 19th surrendered his entire force. Pleading illness, he sent his second in command, Brigadier Charles O’Hara, to make the formal surrender to General Lincoln, whom Washington appointed to receive him. One by one, the British regiments, alter laying down their arms, marched back to camp between two lines, one of American soldiers, the other of French, while the military bands played a series of melancholy tunes, including one which all recognized as “The World Turned Upside Down.”

Lafayette announced the surrender to Monsieur de Maurepas of the French government, in terms of the classic French drama: “The play is over; the fifth act has come to an end.” Lieutenant Colonel Tench Tilghman carried Washington’s dispatch to Congress at Philadelphia, announcing the great event. Arriving at 3:00 a.m. on 22 October, he tipped off an old German night watchman, who awoke the slumbering Philadelphians by stumping through the streets with his lantern, bellowing, “Basht dree o’gloek und Gornvallis ist gedaken!”

Windows flew open, candles were lighted, citizens poured into the streets and embraced each other; and after day broke, Congress assembled and attended a service of thanksgiving.

— Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American People, 1965.

October 19th really ought to be a national holiday.

… of the White House.

The cornerstone of the White House was laid on October 13, 1792. President John Adams and his wife Abigail moved into the unfinished structure on November 1, 1800, keeping to the scheduled relocation of the capital from Philadelphia. Congress declared the city of Washington in the District of Columbia the permanent capital of the United States on July 16, 1790. …

Constructed of white-grey sandstone that contrasted sharply with the red brick used in nearby buildings, the presidential mansion was called the White House as early as 1809. President Theodore Roosevelt officially adopted the term in 1902.

Source: Library of Congress

During the Truman Administration the White House was gutted except for the outside walls and rebuilt. This photo was taken in April 1950.

Gutted to the outside stone walls, deepened with a new two story basement, reinforced with concrete and 660 tons of steel, and fireproofed, the White House was stabilized. The protection of the historic stone walls was so important that workers dismantled a bulldozer and reassembled it inside to avoid cutting a larger doorway out of the walls. Shafts out of windows carried out debris from the inside of the house, and external stairs were built because the inside was completely empty during the renovation.

Source: The White House Historical Association

The Truman Presidential Museum and Library has a photo essay on the reconstruction — The White House Revealed — though the photos are too small to view much detail.

And this, Washington Didn’t Sleep Here: A White House FAQ