Category Archives: Vocabulary

Today in History (January 9th): 1768: The first modern circus was staged in London. 1788: Connecticut became the fifth U.S. state. 1859: Birthdays: Women’s suffrage and peace movement leader Carrie Chapman Catt. 1861: Mississippi seceded from the Union. 1878: Birthdays: … Continue reading →

Today in History (January 8th): 1786: Birthdays: Financier Nicholas Biddle. 1790: U.S. President George Washington gave the first State of the Union address. 1792: Birthdays: Educator and hymn writer Lowell Mason (Nearer My God To Thee). 1815: The forces of … Continue reading →

Today in History (January 7th): 1610: Galileo, using his primitive telescope, discovered the four major moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. 1789: The first nationwide U.S. presidential election was conducted. Electors chosen by the voters unanimously picked George … Continue reading →

Today in History (January 6th): 1745: Birthdays: Frenchman Jacques Montgolfier, who, with his brother, invented the hot air balloon. 1759: George Washington married widow Martha Dandridge Custis. 1822: Birthdays: German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the ruins of ancient Troy. … Continue reading →

Today in History (January 5th): 1643: In the first record of a legal divorce in the American colonies, Anne Clarke of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was granted a divorce from her absent and adulterous husband, Denis Clarke. 1855: Birthdays: King … Continue reading →

Today in History (January 4th): 1809: Birthdays: French teacher of the blind Louis Braille. 1813: Birthdays: British shorthand writing system inventor Isaac Pitman. 1838: Birthdays: Charles Stratton, the midget known as Gen. Tom Thumb, a famous entertainer and protege of … Continue reading →