March 25
Today in America's Present Past
1593 | Jesuit explorer of the Great Lakes Jean de Brebeuf was born.
1774 | The British enacted the first of the Intolerable Acts: the Boston Port Act.
1776 | War of Independence: Continental Congress authorized a gold medal (Comitia Americana) for George Washington for his defeat of the British at Boston.
1804 | General Neal Dow was born.
1828 | Hamilton’s mistress Maria Reynolds died.
1840 | Adventurer Myles Keogh was born.
1851 | First known “New Worlders” explore Yosemite Valley with Indian guides. Led by James Savage, entered the valley while pursuing Yosemite (Ahwahneechee) people during the Mariposa War.
1863 | Civil War: Secretary of War Stanton awarded the first Medal of Honor.
1864 | Civil War: Battle of Paducah, Kentucky.
1865 | Civil War: Battle of Bluff Spring, Florida.
1865 | Civil War: Battle of Mobile, Alabama.
1867 | Sculptor John Gutzon Borglum (Mount Rushmore) was born.
1882 | The first “pancake-making” demonstration was held at a New York City, New York department store.
1898 | Intercollegiate Trapshooting Association was formed.
1898 | Writer O’ Henry (William Sydney Porter) sentenced to prison (Ohio Penitentiary).
1900 | U.S. Socialist Party formed in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1911 | Nightclub owner Jack Ruby was born.
1925 | Novelist Mary Flannery O’Connor was born.
1934 | Activist Gloria Steinem was born.
1937 | Entrepreneur Tom Monaghan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1942 | Entertainer Aretha Franklin was born in Tennessee and moved to Detroit, Michigan.
1943 | The Durante-Moore Show debuted on radio.
1954 | RCA began commercial production of color TVs, manufactured in Bloomington, Indiana.
1961 | Actor Fred Goss was born in Orchard Lake, Michigan.
1965 | Actress Sarah Jessica Parker was born.
1965 | Civil Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr. led 25,000 protestors to the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama delivering his “How Long, Not Long” speech.
1980 | Poet James Wright died.
2009 | Historian John Hope Franklin died.
2012 | Journalist Priscilla Buckley died.
2021 | Author Beverly Cleary died.
2021 | Author Larry McMurtry died.